2012 Chambertin

The 2012 Chambertin Grand Cru comes from 0.21-hectares of vine close to those of Domaine Armand Rousseau. Deep in color, it has a vibrant, almost boisterous bouquet with dark cherry, bergamot and orange rind scents all vying for attention. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent dark berry fruit, impressive mineralite and a sturdy structure towards the tightly wound finish. Perhaps it does not quite possess the persistency of other Chambertin 2012s, but remains a delicious, complex grand vin. I must hold up my hands and confess that I had little experience of Philippe Charlopin's wines until I visited his winery behind the "Super-U" supermarket on the RN74 (it's not all tumbledown cottages and medieval vaulted cellars in Burgundy you know.) The reason is because Philippe's wines are presently not exported into the United Kingdom, which is a shame because they were quite revelatory. Philippe himself probably foresaw my being duped by the large "Charlopin" sign opposite Jean-Marie Fourrier and he pulled up only once I had rung the bell a dozen times and disturbed his son, Yann, who works alongside him (sorry Yann.) And I could see exactly why facilities in the village might lack capacity because Philippe oversees a dizzying array of crus, one that was far more impressive than I had imagined. Prior to my visit I heard that he is one of few Burgundy vignerons to follow the Bordelais and use an optical sorting machine for sorting his fruit and readers be aware that I am not exactly a proponent of this technology for reasons I will not bore you with here. However, Philippe informed me that he only uses it for his generic and village crus, emphasizing that the premier and grand crus depend on good old fashioned "women's hands". (The fact that he does not use it for his best cuvees is further evidence that this technology might be a step too far.) I digress. The harvest here commenced on 26 September and finished on 8 October. Philippe told me that it took several days because his 25-hectares is scattered over 140 parcels that include those in Chablis and from next year, the holdings recently acquired from David Clark. This was one of those lengthy tastings that started in modest fashion, without too much expectation as Philippe's wiry hair kept disappearing off to fetch yet another cru. Sure, his village crus are all decent enough, but I was taken aback by his splendid premier and grand crus. I wondered why nobody in the UK had picked up these wines? They exhibited careful, conscientious winemaking, terroir expression and that elusive attribute...charm. Despite are large production overall, these top wines are made in small and in one case, microscopic quantities, so best of luck finding them. Importer: Peter Weygandt, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800