2016 Domaine Bruno Clavelier Vosne-Romanée Les Beaux Monts Vieilles Vignes 1er Cru

(a bit more east-facing than the Brûlées and thus sheltered from the afternoon sun; the soil is calcaire with a lot of clay and sand, similar to that of the Hauts de Beaux Monts; 30 hectoliters per hectare produced): Bright medium red. Very airy scents of raspberry, cherry, fresh herbs, mint and cinnamon; smells like a pastry. Then a bit less taut than the Brûlées, showing little in the way of easy sweetness but also displaying less inner-mouth tension than the Brûlées. Finishes solid and dry, with a firm spine of masculine tannins, but here the acidity is more reserved. Clavelier describes this wine as having a quiet force.

The 2016 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts conveys a sense of strictness on the nose, distant at first with slightly darker and more introspective fruit compared to the Aux Brûlées. It takes some encouragement from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins on the entry, quite sappy in the mouth so that you can feel those saliva glands working toward the finish. But throughout it remains distant and refuses to give much away at the moment, so give it four or five years once in bottle.