2016 Chambertin Clos de Beze Vieilles Vignes

(Perrot-Minot lost half of the crop here to frost in 2016): Good dark red. Knockout nose combines all the major Clos de Bèze food groups: raspberry, spices, rose petal, leather and stony, smoky silex minerality. Large-scaled, silky and mouthfilling without any undue weight, conveying a higher-pH impression than most of the other '16s here--but Perrot-Minot assured me that it's not above 3.45. Boasts serious thickness of texture leavened by smoky soil tones. Superrich, palate-staining, aristocratic wine with a great future.

The 2016 Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru leans more to the red fruit/pinoté side of the fruit spectrum on the nose, nicely detailed with fine delineation if not quite as intellectual as the Mazoyères-Chambertin. The palate is smooth, almost cashmere-like on the entry, the oak here seamlessly integrated, a seductive Clos de Bèze that gently fans out with ample spicy, menthol-tinged red fruit on the finish. It does not possess the bravura finish of the 2015 last year, but it's very succinct and it will age with style over the next 20 years.