2012 Chambertin Clos de Beze
Buying options
Tasting notes
Medium red. Lovely spicy lift to the aromas of dark berries, coffee, mocha, medicinal herbs and black tea. Very tightly wound but light on its feet, with its tangy, sharply delineated dark berry and mineral flavors currently overshadowed by sexy spice and incense elements. This very young wine's inherent sweetness shines through its almost painful tannins on the very long, refined finish. Not quite as perfumed as it was last year from barrel, but then this wine is a baby today.
Critic scores
Average Score
Allen Meadows, Burghound
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
The 2012 Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru is a great example of this site. Blue/purple fruit, smoke, licorice, menthol and violets jump from the glass. The aromas and flavors are remarkably vivid in the glass. I am particularly attracted to the combination of intensity and finesse here, something that isn't always easy to achieve in such a big, imposing wine.
Bright, dark red. High-pitched perfume of blueberry and huckleberry complicated by inky minerality and crushed stone. The palate offers extraordinary wild intensity and medicinal reserve to the densely packed, sharply delineated flavors of black fruits, licorice and pungent minerals. Transcendent, soil-driven pinot noir with the energy and structure for a long and graceful evolution in bottle. Builds endlessly on the aftertaste. This fruit was harvested with 12.8% potential alcohol and chaptalized to 13.4%. One of the potential superstars of the vintage.
The 2012 Chambertin Clos-de-Beze Grand Cru, which like the Chapelle-Chambertin is domaine-owned, has a more voluminous, multi-faceted bouquet with engaging incense and mineral notes infusing the beautifully defined black fruits. The palate is very well balanced on the entry with more tension and nervosite than the Chambertin, building effortlessly towards a quite regal, sophisticated finish whose mineralite lingers long in the mouth. Outstanding.
About the producer
Louis Jadot is arguably the most consistent négociant house in Burgundy. It has managed to straddle both the entry-level and fine wine market, while retaining respect in both.