2016 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques 1er Cru

(65% vendange entier ): Dark red with ruby tones; not quite as deeply colored as the Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes. Very dark aromas of black raspberry, bitter chocolate and licorice, plus a hint of leathery reduction. At once densely packed and penetrating; a distinctly sappy, very dark style of Clos Saint-Jacques with considerable finesse and length. But hard to assess today as it's in a reductive phase. (Sylvie Esmonin normally picks this vineyard toward the end, but noted that in 2017 she harvested her strip of Clos Saint-Jacques at the same time as Rousseau and well before Jadot.)

The 2016 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jacques was due for racking in the New Year, Sylvie waiting because she wanted the wine to spend longer on the lees. This vintage includes 60% whole bunch fruit. There was a lot of reduction on the nose as Sylvie forewarned so we will have to bypass the aromatics. On the palate there is much more expression. What strikes you is the sheer untrammelled energy contained in this Clos Saint-Jacques that immediately revivified the senses. It feels extremely harmonious, the new oak holding a sway upon the final third at the moment but given the requisite bottle age then that will be assimilated. As usual, it is a Clos Saint-Jacques that leans more towards black than red fruit (à la Rousseau or Fourrier) but there is great precision and length in situ.