2012 Gevrey Chambertin Clos du Fonteny Monopole

A pulsating, energetic wine, Clair's 2012 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos du Fonteny impresses for its overall poise and sense of balance. Dark red cherry, plum, dried flowers and rocks are all woven together beautifully. The sheer depth of the fruit is going to make the 2012 difficult to resist young, but there is more than enough tannin and acidity to support aging.

The 2012 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos du Fonteny is bridled with a very pure bouquet with wild strawberry and bergamot scents, a touch of mineralite emerging with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied, silky on the entry with fine structure towards the poised finish, hints of white pepper on the aftertaste. Very fine. It was a balmy, sunny June morning when I last visited Domaine Bruno Clair to take a peek at their 2011s, but it was different arriving to taste their 2012s, the mercury struggling above zero, snow draped over vines. It was a pleasure to meet Bruno and Philippe Brun again, the “Batman and Robin” of Marsannay, Bruno sporting his favorite lumberjack jacket ready to cut down a few trees. At least he was warm. After some reminiscing about his good friend Patrick Bize, we set about the new arrivals. The 2012s were picked between 20 September and 1 October. His village crus are raised in new oak until racking in early September and then transferred into 15-hectolitre foudres to moderate the impact of the wood. Usually they de-stem the entire crop, but the ripeness of the stems meant that his top crus include 20% whole cluster this year. They both seemed enthusiastic about the vintage and rightly so – this is a domaine that shifted up a gear and vies for the village’s leading domaine (even though their Gevrey holdings make the synonymous with the village further south.) Bruno and Philippe just appear to have found the knack of creating wines with finesse and character, a more prudent approach that has fostered more terroir-driven Pinot Noirs. Their Clos Saint Jacques was once and “also ran”. Now it is up there with the likes of Fourrier and Rousseau. Importer: A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet, various American importers, including: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808, Fine Vines, Melrose Park, IL; tel. (708) 343-6702, The Source, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 621-6151. Also through Justerini & Brooks and other merchants in the UK.