(a blend of Petite Chapelle, Cherbaudes, Bel-Air and Champonnets): Bright medium red. High-pitched aromas of raspberry, blood orange, rose petal and spicy oak. At once sweet and velvety on the palate, with a wonderfully spherical shape and lovely framing energy. Delivers an uncanny combination of sucrosite and inner-mouth tension. The piquant, very long finish leaves the taste buds humming. This will already be delicious in a couple years but will probably be even better with seven or eight years of cellaring.

A weightless, totally elegant wine, the 2012 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru represents the quintessential expression of Pinot Noir in Gevrey. The flavors are all beautifully defined. Savory herbs, crushed flowers, plums and mint are woven together in a fabric that speaks of finesse. The 2012 is mid-weight, polished and absolutely pristine to the core.

The 2012 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru is an assemblage of four lieux-dits around the village, each offering its own facets. Raised in 50% new oak, it has a very focused and fragrant bouquet with lifted fresh strawberry, Morello and mineral scents that unfold in the glass. The palate has a real frisson on the entry. There is a hint of dark chocolate towards the finish that is defined by dark broody blackberry and bilberry fruit. This is a complex premier cru, one that will require 5-6 years in bottle. Things are certainly changing at this domaine. When Arnaud took over I felt that the level of new oak was excessive, superfluous to requirements given the fruit bestowed by his family’s prodigious holdings. And he was refreshingly candid about this when we sat down in his offices to taste through his 2012s, where he told me that he is now dialing down the new oak in order to express the terroir. That said, there is still more new wood here that say, Armand Rousseau just round the corner, but tasting through these 2012s I would say that the wood is better assimilated than previous vintage and yes, the terroir does shine through. “The harvest began on 23 September,” Arnaud explained. “It lasted for about 9 days in Gevrey and then finishing off with the Bourgogne Rouge. We had a lot of millerandage. Everything was de-stemmed this year. We left the wine on its lees in barrel and might sulfur in two or three months. We’ll also transfer the wine in to stainless steel to marry everything together. But the end result is that we are about 40% down on average.” Importer: Martine’s Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400 and Fields Morris & Verdin, Justerini & Brooks, Berry Brothers & Rudd all in the UK.