(vinified with 50% whole clusters): Good bright red, less ruby than the regular village offering. Highly nuanced aromas of dark raspberry, coffee, leather, mocha and game bird; more red than black in its fruit character. Dense, lush and sweet but with excellent precision to its berry and game flavors. This has premier cru weight, depth and palate presence. The superb slowly mounting finish features fully ripe tannins and surprising energy for such a rich wine. This would be perfect now with a piece of beef--or hold it for ten years.

The 2010 Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes emerges from the glass with super-ripe black berries, blueberries, licorice and tar. The Vieilles Vignes impresses for its sheer depth and power, but despite its size, there is plenty of underlying minerality to support the fruit. It remains a big, muscular wine in need of considerable cellaring, though. Esmonin used 60% whole clusters on the Vieilles Vignes.