2015 Domaine Denis Bachelet Charmes-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru
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Tasting notes
Denis Bachelet's 2015 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes is brilliant, soaring from the glass with a dramatic bouquet of plum, wild berries, rose petal and orange rind, elegantly framed by creamy new oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and multidimensional, with excellent depth and mid-palate dimension, incredibly velvety tannins, succulent acids and a long, saline finish. Despite this fabulously expansive Charmes's textural grace and refinement, considerable structure is lurking beneath the surface, and it will reward patience.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Healthy dark red. Musky, spicy aromas of strawberry, raspberry, smoked meat and earth; a bit lower-pitched than the young 2016. Hugely rich and fat but savory more than sweet, conveying a strong core of spices and an almost port-like ripeness. This densely packed wine is most impressive today on its very long finish, where the substantial tannins are dusty and fine-grained. Bachelet noted that these vines suffered from the drought conditions in 2015 and that this wine should probably be drunk later than the 2016.
Healthy dark red. Wild, complex scents of cherry pit, leather and dried rose. Sweet and perfumed in the mouth, offering lovely pliancy and breadth to its berry and smoky mineral flavors complicated by soil tones and amaretto. With its nobly ripe tannins and superb subtle length, this charming Charmes may well be sumptuous early but it has the stuffing and balance for a graceful evolution in bottle. Like the Corbeaux, this wine strikes me as very gently extracted.
They normally make eight barrels, but they only made six in 2015 (and 2016). 50% new oak. Very small bunches. Great attractive meatiness on the nose. Very sweet and gorgeous. Really quite fine. Really great wine with no excess. Has a beginning, middle and end, and although it should age beautifully, the fruit is so articulate it almost disguises the very ripe tannins and persuades you to drink it straight away. (JR)