2016 Domaine Trapet Chambertin Grand Cru

(just 17 hectoliters per hectare produced due to frost losses; 40% vendange entier ): Good full red. Very sexy, inviting aromas of redcurrant, raspberry, espresso, minerals, game and smoky oak. Then surprisingly high-pitched and youthfully imploded in the mouth but not at all dry, with concentrated dark berry fruit flavors energized by mint and herb elements. This superb terroir -driven wine is a perfect blend of wild and fresh elements--and of intense purple fruits and subtle minerality. Finishes with dusty, late-arriving tannins and terrific length and lift. This has all the elements to make a classic Chambertin.

Reduction dominates at present. However there is excellent freshness and underlying tension to the superbly well-concentrated and intensely mineral drive big-bodied flavors that flash plenty of classic Chambertin muscle on the youthfully austere and very backward finish that is explosively long. This is seriously good and the density is such that this is pretty much a block of stone today. Patience, and a lot of it, ist going to be needed here but if you have it, this is potentially a great Chambertin.

The 2016 Chambertin Grand Cru contains 50% whole bunch fruit this year, after half the vineyard (three parcels) was decimated by frost. It has a very elegant bouquet that takes time to unfold in the glass: blackberry, raspberry, wild hedgerow, wet stone and a touch of graphite. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin, leaning more toward red fruit than black, well balanced with a fine line of acidity and a grainy, structured finish. Classic Chambertin here and a great success considering the extent of the frost damage.