The 2008 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St. Jacques opens with an explosive bouquet. The wine turns decidedly more elegant and ethereal on the palate. The Clos St. Jacques comes across as more ethereal than the Cazetiers. It is a texturally brilliant wine, with a sweet, sensual finish and an utterly refined personality. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2028. 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

Deep red. Compelling nose combines purple fruits, violet, red licorice, wild herbs and mint. Dense, strong and minerally but with a light touch. Quite ripe for 2008 but displays lovely finesse. Boasts almost grand cru volume and texture. Finishes with substantial ripe tannins and lovely lingering perfume.

Peony and rose; ripe black raspberry and dark cherry; along with high-toned herbal emanations scent the Clair 2008 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St.-Jacques (which I tasted from cask), then migrate to a palate of welcome, almost silken textural tenderness, especially in the context of a generally firmly tannic collection. Not that this lacks structure, but the frame is tight and well-covered in luscious fruit. Raw meat and dark chocolate add to a rich, low-toned finish of real resonance. I would expect this to remain alluring for more than 15 years. 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 Clos St. Jacques is just a little smudged on the nose, perhaps just a little SO2 hanging around? Sappy red-berried fruit, more primal than the Fonteny, good extraction, black fruits with just a touch of tobacco on the dense, austere finish. Very disjointed at the moment. Tasted January 2010.