Bright full ruby-red. Explosive nose combines cherry, raspberry, minerals, flowers and game; at once expressive and cool. Fat, thick and stuffed with fruit; offers an uncanny combination of sheer volume and texture and great elegance. Finishes with extremely suave tannins and great resounding length and sweetness. This may turn out to be as strong as the outstanding '98.

We start with Faiveley’s 1999 Chambertin Clos de Bèze. Deeply colored and intense, the 1999 is promising at the outset. I expect the searing, powerful tannins to soften with air, but instead the opposite happens as the wine continues to clamp down. Even within the context of the world’s most tannic, structured wines, the 1999 Bèze is austere, tight and totally unyielding, all qualities that become more prominent with the passing of time. In short, there is no pleasure to be found here.