Revisited from bottle, the 2017 Chambertin Grand Cru is showing beautifully, soaring from the glass with expressive aromas of sweet red berry fruit, smoked meats, coniferous forest floor, mandarin orange and peonies, framed by a deft application of cedary, spicy new oak. Full-bodied, sumptuous and enveloping, its velvety attack segues into an ample core of succulent fruit, concluding with a long and resonant finish. This is likely to be both deceptively approachable young and notably long-lived, offering a broad drinking window.

This grand cru digests the oak more quickly than does Clos de Bèze, apparently. Really spicy. Quite peppery and just a little smoky. But there’s that purple peony perfume underneath. Violet hearts. More chewy than most so far but still with succulent fluid fruit at the core. That chewiness changes to a really refined texture on the finish (unlike the vice versa of most wines). (JH)