2002 Chambertin Clos de Beze

Medium bright red. Cool aromas of black fruits, red licorice and bitter chocolate. Very suave on entry, then quite closed in the middle palate; sweet, delicate and perfumed but very young today and in need of eight to ten years of aging. The ripely tannic finishing flavors build slowly and linger long. Offers considerable potential, but will it equal the Clos Saint-Jacques?

As is almost always the case, there is more of everything here including more openness as this is big, rich and aromatically intense with considerable breed that leads to moderately structured, medium weight flavors of real complexity and fine depth and length. This is not a bruiser, in fact it's lighter than the typical Clair Bèze but the extra levels of refinement and class are evident. In short, this is wonderfully stylish yet with real depth and power in a perfectly balanced package.

Medium red. Liqueur-like raspberry, minerals, leather and game on the reticent nose. Silky on entry, then penetrating and fresh in the middle palate. Gives the impression of superb cut, but more from firm tannic spine and minerality than from acidity, which is actually on the low side. A wine of wonderful ripeness and breadth. Slowly mounting, very long finish. Two-thirds of these vines were planted in 1912.