2011 Chambertin Clos de Beze

The 2011 Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru (Domaine Louis Jadot) offers up lovely aromas of cherries, cassis and dark chocolate. On the palate, it's full-bodied, ample and satiny, with juicy acids, a fleshy core of fruit and deceptively melting tannins, concluding with a long, generous finish. While it isn't a historic vintage for this routinely superb bottling, it's a beautiful wine that is already accessible and which will continue to drink with grace for two decades.

The limits of the vintage are apparent in the 2011 Chambertin Clos de Bèze, which lacks the depth and structure that are typical of this side. Dried flowers, iron and red stone fruits emerge, but there is only modest depth in the glass. This is a pretty, nuanced, mid-weight Burgundy, but not especially typical of Bèze.

Medium red. Complex but youthfully reticent nose offers cherry, raspberry, minerals and sexy smoky oak. Juicy, silky and deep, with lovely flesh and restrained sweetness to the tangy redcurrant and spice flavors. Very well-judged use of new oak here. A building note of orange zest adds lift to the middle palate. Finishes silky, suave and long, with noble tannins. With 48 hours in the recorked bottle, this continued to show a wonderfully layered mouth feel while avoiding the peppery aspect displayed by many examples from this vintage. I'd love to try this next to the Chapelle in ten years.