2015 Domaine Joseph Roty Charmes-Chambertin Tres Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru

(14.5% alcohol): Good dark red but not as ruby as in some past very ripe years. Initially a bit stunted, even fermentative, on the nose, this wine opened with air to show much more precise notes of small wild red and purple fruits, licorice pastille and lavender. The very pure, sweet purple fruits are lifted on the palate by lavender and violet notes but this is stubbornly backward today, like a blueprint for a great Burgundy. Penetrating minerality and firm acidity should give this very stylish, utterly seamless wine a long future, but will it ever show the sweetness of the Griottes?

Full ruby-red. Very pure but youthfully brooding aromas of black fruits, licorice, violet and minerals. Strikingly sappy and primary, conveying near-painful intensity to its tightly wound black fruit and saline mineral flavors. This complete, impeccably balanced Charmes-Chambertin expands spectacularly on the rising, palate-staining back end, saturating the taste buds and leaving the mouth vibrating. A perfect blueprint for a 25+-year wine. A good portion of these vines date back to the vineyard's original post-Phylloxera graftings in 1881, but as the family has never used pesticides or chemical fertilizers these old vines still routinely yield a healthy crop--35 hectoliters per hectare in 2015.

The 2015 Charmes-Chambertin Très Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru has a sophisticated bouquet, perhaps more nuanced than Roty's two other grand crus, with exquisite aromas of raspberry, pomegranate and crushed strawberry infused with cold stones. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, very focused and animated with a tang of marmalade, sour cherry and what feels like a saline finish. Underlying that is a slight gamey note that may become more pronounced as the wine ages. Très bon. Dec 2016, www.robertparker.com, Drink: 2022-2045