The 2008 Chambertin-Clos de Beze is an intensely floral, cool wine graced with exquisite finesse in its dark red berries, flowers, minerals and menthol. It is naturally less obvious than the 2009, but just as convincing. A textured, sweet and multi-dimensional finish rounds things out in style. The Beze is quite a bit more open than the Bonnes Mares, but it nevertheless needs time, and probably lots of it. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2038. This is a beautiful set of wines from Bruno Clair. Every wine I tasted with Clair’s longtime oenologist Philippe Brun was gorgeous from top to bottom. While the top 2009s are certainly superb, the real jewels here are the village level wines which appear to be among the great success stories of the 2009 vintage. I tasted all of the wines from barrel, except the Marsannay and Marsannay Les Vaudanelles, both of which were bottled before the 2010 harvest. In 2009 Clair began harvesting on September 15 and ended on the 23rd. I also tasted a handful of 2008s, from a much later harvest that stretched into October. The handful of wines I tasted from that vintage are equally impressive, and equally worth your time. A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet, various American importers, including: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808, Fine Vines, Melrose Park, IL; tel. (708) 343-6702, The Source, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 621-6151

Discreet wood influence surrounds the intensely spicy and earthy nose that is at once elegant yet animale and this sauvage character extends to the very rich, powerful and well-muscled flavors that possess a seductively textured yet firm finish of imposing length. This is a big but focused Bèze that has already begun to shut down. Patience will be required. Drink 2023+.

– Burghound.com, Issue 41. Tasted: Jan 2011

Deep red. Very pure, laid-back aromas of dark berries, bitter chocolate, licorice, violet and spices. Densely packed and sweet, with highly complex, sharply delineated fla vors of licorice, graphite, violet and game. Extremely long but tight on the aftertaste, with tougher tannins that are going to require up to a decade of patience.

Cassis, dark cherry, rose petal, licorice, and hints of caramel in the nose of Clair's 2008 Chambertin Clos De Beze (tasted from barrel) make for a site-typical melange that presages the wine's richly-fruited, palate-staining performance. Abundant but fine tannins and a vibrant finish help contribute confidence that this will be worth following for at least the better part of two decades. One hasn't the immediate impression of a wine more than merely incrementally superior to the corresponding premier crus of the present collection, but over time I suspect this demonstrate a significant bonus in complexity as well as sheer elegance. Bruno Clair and Philippe Brun report that they had to warm their cellar to encourage the primary fermentations of their 2008s, and their 2009s were already into malo before the 2008s finished. In consequence, even their Marsannays from the latter vintage had only been assembled the day I visited them in February. (Other wines were recently assembled or still in barrel, as noted in the text, and most were destined for May bottling.) The 2008 harvest here did not commence until the beginning of October. "You had mature sugars," says Clair echoing a frequent refrain, "but not mature skins or pips." Quantities were almost shockingly small this year, the Gevrey Crus ranging between 20-25 hectoliters per hectare, and there is certainly no lack of structure in what for now present themselves as a somewhat severely concentration collection. Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802

The nose is certainly coy at first, reluctantly revealing boysenberry fruit, raspberry leaf, forest floor and a touch of limestone. Tightly-wound. The palate is medium-bodied, muted on the entry but then fanning out nicely towards the fleshy, generous finish with great definition. Difficult to taste now, but I think it will blossom with bottle age. Drink 2013-2022. Tasted January 2010.