1995 Domaine Bruno Clair Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru

Very dark in color, the Chambertin Clos de Beze is superb, displaying a profoundly intense nose of dark berry fruit and minerals. In the mouth its awesome silky texture and powerful attack give way to layers of fat, sweet, chewy black fruits. Complex and long, this full-bodied wine will be at its best between 2005-2015. This note is the result of tastings I did in Burgundy between January 7 and January 29. The wine was tasted from cask, not bottle. Pinot Noir, a fragile varietal, reacts poorly to fining, filtration, and careless bottling techniques, I recommend caution when considering buying a red burgundy based on cask samples. I called it as I tasted it, and hope the bottled wine reflects the quality of the samples I was provided. The Marsannay appellation, the northernmost of the Cote d'Or, in reality a suburb of Dijon, is only known to the Burgundy cognoscenti, but on these hillsides Clair makes some of Burgundy's finest values. In '95, a hail storm on July 23 damaged Clair's grapes in Marsannay, popping some berries open and threatening the onset of rot. However, subsequent rain storms washed the broken berries from the vines leaving only the healthy ones. His yields were significantly reduced because of this occurrence (a mere 22 hectoliters/hectare), but Clair's wines are clean. Importer: Vineyard Brands, Chester, VT; tel. (802) 875-2139.

Very dark in color, the Chambertin Clos de Beze is superb, displaying a profoundly intense nose of dark berry fruit and minerals. In the mouth its awesome silky texture and powerful attack give way to layers of fat, sweet, chewy black fruits. Complex and long, this full-bodied wine will be at its best between 2005-2015. Jun 1997, www.robertparker.com

Red-ruby color. Deep aromas of blackberry, white pepper, menthol and spicy oak. The sweetest of these '96s but kept under wraps by its firm, minerally structure. Juicy and very intensely flavored; pungent and urgent yet reined in. Finishes with great thrust and explosive fruit. Really stains the palate. Tannins are firm but even.