The 2012 Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts has a vibrant raspberry and fresh strawberry bouquet that is very harmonious and pretty, with fine delineation and focus. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins. It is embroidered with a fine line of acidity and offers a splendid build towards a spicy, undergrowth-tinged finish that is long and tender. This should be a beautiful wine. Tasting in the cellars of Domaine Dujac in Morey Saint Denis is always an educational, enlightening experience, granting you a useful picture of how some of the top vineyards performed in the Cote de Nuits during a given year. Alec Seysses was on hand to guide me around his particularly cold cellar, one of those occasions when my warm hands might be bad for pastry, but ideal for warming glasses. “It was the fourth poor year in a row in terms of quantity,” he explained, showing me the concrete eggs now employed at the domaine, a less common sight here in Burgundy compared to Bordeaux. “although in 2012 we had a regular crop of the village crus and the younger vines did well. We averaged around 20 hectoliters per hectare. Everything was racked in early September but there is some reduction from the cold cellar. The softness of the tannins strikes me as a character of the vintage. It is more a dark fruit vintage than a red fruit vintage. Sugars were between 12.5 and 13%, with a few 13.3% here and there. I find the wines similar to 2010, but the 2012 is a little more charming because the tannins are not quite as strong.” Tasting through the complete range of wines from the small batch of negociant wines under “Dujac Fils et Pere” to the clutch of grand crus, it was clear that propitious terroirs that influenced the wines greatly. The village crus were mostly commendable in their own right, but the real excitement begins as you broach the premier crus, where the barrel samples achieve high degrees of complexity and nuance. Like many of the top growers, I was pleased to see individual terroirs articulated with great clarity in 2012, perhaps more so than the 2011s. These barrel samples seemed to contain so much energy: tightly coiled springs of fermented grape juice, brimming with tension and freshness that Jeremy and Alec will endeavor to capture once in bottle. I have little doubt that they will succeed. Importers: The Sorting Table, Napa, CA; tel. (415) 491-4724; Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808; Chambers & Chambers, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 642-5500 and though several merchants in the UK including Berry Brother & Rudd.

The 2012 Vosne-Romanée Les Beaux Monts is fascinating to taste next to the Malconsorts. Precision and vibrancy are the signatures in a wine that pulses with energy from the very first taste. Readers who enjoy precise, finely sculpted Burgundies will find much to admire here. Today, the 2012 is a bit reticent and closed in on itself, but that should not pose any issues whatsoever over the long term. The vibrant, nuanced finish is a thing of beauty.

The complexity here is remarkable and I very much admire the harmony of elements between the concentration of the mid-palate and the structural elements.

Bright red. Reserved nose shows dark berries and crushed stone. Sappy and rich; sweeter than the 2013 version but less fruity and precise than that wine owing to its youthful baby fat. Flavors of blueberry and smoky minerals are joined by a note of caramel oak on the very long, fine-grained finish, which features serious but smooth tannins.

A bit reduced and very racy. Lightish and without great depth – yet. All to play for. (JR)