1987 Domaine Denis Bachelet Charmes-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru

My personal offering to Veronique Drouhin’s La Paulee was a bottle of 1987 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru, bought just a few days earlier after reading Clive Coates’s bon mots in his recently published “My Favourite Burgundies.” Mr Coates was dead right, for even in such auspicious company this is such a pretty grand cru. Pale in color, the nose is featherweight but beautifully defined with tart red-cherry fruit, rose petals and minerals – feminine and beguiling. The palate opens wonderfully in the glass, just pure Pinote. Nothing complex, nothing profound, but utterly bewitching, this is everything you could wish for in a mature off-vintage Burgundy. Divine. Drink now-2020. Tasted November 2013. When tasting through Denis Bachelet’s 2012s, he invited a run through his 2011s that provided a lucid juxtaposition between the two vintages, while reaffirming the commonly held notion that Denis has an innate ability to transcend the limitations of the growing season. His 2011s are some of the best you will find in the appellation from top to bottom, though in my mind the 2012s are more crystalline and contain more matiere. Here, I have also included two mature vintages of his jewel, Charmes-Chambertin: the 1987 a little gem from a forgotten vintage and the 2004, a potentially great wine besmirched by those seemingly ubiquitous “green meanies.” Importer: A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet, various American importers, including: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808; AOC Imports, CA; tel. (415) 279-8708; Toepfer Imports LLC, CO; tel. (303) 818-7640. Also available in UK through Howard Ripley, Berry Brothers & Rudd, Wine Society and A&B Vintners.