2013 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques 1er Cru

Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting in Beaune, the 2013 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jacques has a slightly reduced, quite savory bouquet with menthol notes filtering through the dark berry fruit, some new oak still present. The palate is medium-bodied with thickset, succulent tannin, moderate acidity, a little chewy in the mouth but with pleasing purity towards the finish. This is a full-on Clos Saint Jacques that will need several years in bottle. It's a bit muscular, but that is Sylvie's style, so be prepared to afford this a decade in bottle to get the best from it. Tasted September 2016.

Good deep red with ruby tones. Ripe, deep perfume of black cherry, dark berries, crushed rock, wild herbs and game lifted by a peppery topnote. Very concentrated, intense, taut wine with terrific volume and inner-mouth energy. A captivating floral quality contributes another dimension. Explosive on the back end, saturating the mouth and exciting the salivary glands. Finishes with terrific late spicy lift. This wonderfully perfumed, classy wine needs time. "Consumers will probably prefer the 2014 but the '13 is longer and has more finesse," said Sylvie Esmonin, adding that the 2014 "doesn't have the same shoulders."

(60% new oak, 60% vendange entier ; harvested on October 7 and 8): Bright red-ruby. Aromas of black cherry, crushed rock, bitter chocolate and espresso, plus a slightly raw suggestion of peppery herbs. Then fine-grained and surprisingly sweet, with an intense black cherry flavor complicated by torrefaction notes of licorice and bitter chocolate and accented by pepper and flowers. Really broadens out on the back end, finishing with serious, horizontal tannins and sexy notes of spicy oak and flowers. I love the impact of the stems here. Sylvie Esmonin told me that she was the last of the five owners of Clos Saint-Jacques to pick in 2013.