2010 Charmes Chambertin Les Mazoyeres

The 2010 Charmes-Chambertin is all about grace and understatement. Sweet, ethereal and seamless, the Charmes impresses for its silky texture and highly expressive personality. Roumier's parcel is in Mazoyères and is farmed under a métayage agreement. The bottles are sold under the Christophe Roumier label rather than under the domaine label.

The 2010 Charmes-Chambertin is all about grace and understatement. Sweet, ethereal and seamless, the Charmes impresses for its silky texture and highly expressive personality. Roumier’s parcel is in Mazoyeres and is farmed under a metayage agreement. The bottles are sold under the Christophe Roumier label rather than under the domaine label. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2030. The only real problem with Christophe Roumier’s 2010s is the production, which was severely compromised by the December 2009 frost and the poor weather of 2010, especially during the flowering. On a more positive note, the wines are marked by their total transparency. Some of the entry-level wines are a bit on the light side, but the best 1er Crus and the Grand Crus are magical. Roumier started picking on September 28. Some of the wines were lightly chaptalized. I will report on the 2009s in our April issue. Importer: Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, Napa CA; tel. (707) 299-2600