2009 Gevrey Chambertin Les Champeaux

The 2009 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Champeaux is a deep, sensual wine. Dark cherries, plums, licorice and smoke are some of the aromas and flavors that emerge from the glass. The wine fills out beautifully in every direction. The Champeaux is opulent, fleshy and flat-out delicious. Today the 100% new oak is just a bit prominent. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2029. Importer: Martine’s Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400

Good bright, deep red. Reticent aromas of black cherry, menthol, mocha and earth. Fat, sweet and fairly weighty but showing less detail and lift today than the premier cru bottling. More red fruits than black. I find this difficult to taste today, but the wine's finishing minerality wakes up the taste buds and the firm tannins are nicely ripe, so I suspect that all this needs is time in bottle.

Bright ruby-red. Quintessential Gevrey aromas of smoke, minerals and coffee. At once creamy and vibrant in the mouth, with penetrating flavors of dark raspberry and violet. Lovely glossy fruit here but still tight on the back end. In a serious style, with the structure to age. Mortet works these very old vines with a horse rather than a tractor, as the vines are not planted in straight rows.