2012 Mazis Chambertin

The 2012 Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru comes from 0.42 hectares of 50-year-old vines. This is another exemplary expression of this vineyard with a more sensual bouquet than the Charmes-Chambertin: perfumed raspberry and fresh strawberries billowing from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied, very well poised and sporting well-judged acidity. There is a natural, refined composure to this Mazis-Chambertin, which does not short-change you in fruit intensity on the rounded, velvety finish. This is probably the best wine I have tasted from this domaine. I recall tasting the wines from Domaine Tortochot several years ago. To be honest, they were satisfactory rather than scintillating, workmanlike wines without flair of flamboyance. Meeting Chantal Tortochot and reacquainting myself with their 2012s in London, I was pleased to discover a significant improvement and that is a valuable thing because we need more affordable wines from Gevrey beyond Rousseau and Dugat-Py (which is to take nothing away from those growers.) Part of the reason is the transition to organic viticulture since 2003 and achieving complete conversion in 2008. In addition the talented Sylvain Pataille has been on board in a consulting capacity and that has resulted in more complexity and nuance. The tenets here are straightforward: the fruit completely de-stemmed, twice-daily punch downs and a decent amount of new oak, 100% for the grand cru, 50% for the premier and 25% for the village crus. Domaine Tortochot is one to put back on your list and I look forward to keeping track of their progress in future issues. Importer: PComms International Wine Imorters, tel: 828-274-9323. www.pcommswines.com & several in the UK such as OW Loeb and Fine & Rare Wines.