The 2016 Corton-Pougets Grand Cru (Domaine des Héritiers Jadot) is excellent, unwinding in the glass with a youthfully reserved bouquet of ripe cherries, wild berries and bergamot, complemented by savory bass notes of mossy forest floor, espresso roast and grilled squab. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, deep and tight-knit, with excellent amplitude and dimension, fine-grained but firm structuring tannins and a penetrating, mineral finish. The potential here is very fine indeed but this is not a wine for those seeking immediate gratification and a decade of patience will be in order.

Only a trace of wood influence frames gamy red and dark currant aromas that are liberally laced with spice and earth hints. As is usually the case, the mouth feel of the middle weight plus flavors is powerful, tautly muscular and energetic while offering excellent depth and length on the serious, markedly austere and very backward finish where touches of wood and warmth show up. While I suspect that this will be approachable after only 8 to 10 years, it will need the better part of 20 to arrive at its full potential.

(Jadot has four different vine ages in this grand cru and replants one-quarter of the surface every 20 or 25 years, according to Barnier, who added that no replanting is scheduled for the next decade or so; as with the Corton Grèves, the crop level was normal here in '16): Bright, dark red. Aromas of cherry, spices and soil convey a slight medicinal reserve and a pungent mineral nuance. Concentrated, savory and pliant; still a touch medicinal but with lovely subtle sweetness and expanding inner-mouth floral perfume, not to mention harmonious acidity. Finishes juicy and suavely tannic, with sneaky persistence.

The 2016 Corton Grand Cru demonstrates a lot of oak on the nose with hints of smoky bacon crisps bedeviling the red fruit underneath. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin. Thankfully, here the oak is less present and this Corton shows fine harmony and persistence, a spicy residue lingering in the mouth. One of the better examples if, and only if, the oak is subsumed with bottle age on the nose. Tasted blind at the 2016 Burgfest tasting.

Cask sample. Mid crimson. More red-fruited than the Grèves with an attractively dusty overlay. Oak is more evident here but not overwhelming. Chewy, fresh and just a touch spicy on the long finish. Excellent potential. (JH)