2017 Domaine Claude Dugat Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

A glorious bouquet of cherries, raspberries, vine smoke, licorice and loamy soil introduces the 2017 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru, a full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping wine that's deep, succulent and satiny textured, concluding with a long and lip-smacking finish. This is a Charmes that amply merits its name this year, and as I observed when tasting it from barrel, it will offer a wide drinking window.

The 2017 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru demands a little coaxing from the glass, with dark cherries, raspberry preserve and briary aromas, gradually unfurling but never fully letting go like the Chapelle-Chambertin. The palate is very well structured with a firm backbone, quite Mazoyères-like in style, the mineralité flooding out towards the second half that displays an insistent grip and impressive length. Excellent.