The 2012 Ruchottes-Chambertin Grand Cru Clos des Ruchottes is showing beautifully, even if it's still a handful of years away from prime-time drinking, wafting from the glass with aromas of wild berries, plums, peonies, orange rind and a deft framing of oak vanillin from its used cooperage. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and elegant, with beautifully refined tannins and this cuvée's signature purity of fruit, it concludes with a long and penetrating finish.

(20% new oak): Good bright red. Blackberry, blueberry and a hint of leather on the somewhat sauvage nose. Brooding, tight and dark on the palate, with classic Gevrey wildness to the dense, savory flavors of dark berries, black cherry and violet. Finishes very long and backward, with a medicinal menthol note and a note of game. For all its structure, this sappy, densely packed wine has plenty of sweetness.