Burgundy Wines

wines

The average age of the Seysses' 1.95ha holdings in the Clos de la Roche are slightly older than those of neighbouring Clos St-Denis. Using fruit from five main parcels, it's a very complete, self-confident wine with good density and concentration, sappy, spicy undertones, fine-grained fruit and tannins, and a very long, tapering finish. Drinking Window 2027 - 2035.Decanter | 97 DEC(Clos de la Roche- Domaine Dujac) I love the 2017 vintage for red Burgundy and Domaine Dujac’s Clos de la Roche has to be one of the finest wines of the vintage. The bouquet is still youthful and quite red fruity this year, but already shows lovely complexity in its blend of cherries, blood orange, beetroot, raw cocoa, a gorgeous base of soil tones, pigeon and a deft framing of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and very svelte in profile, with a sappy core of fruit, great balance and grip, fine-grained tannins and a long, soil-driven and dazzling finish. This is going to be a stunning wine once it is fully ready to drink! (Drink between 2032-2080)John Gilman | 96 JGDujac's 2017 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru is more reserved that the Clos Saint-Denis, unwinding in the glass with scents of red berries, plums, orange rind, cinnamon, peonies and sweet soil tones. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, serious and layered, with muscular structure, lively acids and a long, perfumed finish. While this remains a comparatively accessible, finesse-driven Clos de la Roche, at least a decade's patience will be required to see this begin to realize its potential.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94+ RP(Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Red) This is also markedly floral in character with additional breadth from the impressively pure combination of red cherry, currant, leather and a whiff of the sauvage along with a touch of oak. The beautifully energetic and detailed flavors are much finer than usual thanks mostly to the ultra-fine grain of the tannins supporting the austere, serious and compact finish. This is a Dujac CdlR of refinement rather than one of imposing size, indeed it's almost a bit light, but even so, it is clearly constructed for the medium to longer. (Drink starting 2032).Burghound | 92 BHThe 2017 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru shows some charry oak barrel on the nose, just a slight hickory scent that feels out of place. It becomes smokier with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with a lot of stem addition that dominates the terroir expression and fruit at the moment. Well-defined and well-crafted, and it may ultimately turn into a brilliant Clos de la Roche, but that depends on how those stems are assimilated. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2017 tasting.Vinous Media | 92 VM

Exquisite from the moment we first sniffed it, the 2017 Bruno Clair Bonnes Mares is a tour de force. The colour is not extravagantly deep, but the bouquet evokes a style of ethereal Burgundy which the more powerful recent vintages will struggle to emulate. Most people’s preferred wine of the 8 Bonnes Mares presented at the Bouilland Symposia Masterclass. Tasted Dec 2021.Jasper Morris | 97 JMThe 2017 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru has a lifted, perfumed and quite floral bouquet of brambly red fruit infused with wilted rose petal and a touch of blood orange. Gorgeous! The palate is medium-bodied with fine structure, a killer line of acidity and perhaps some discreet stem addition, as it is overtly peppery toward the finish. Plenty of freshness and quite linear. Classic Burgundy. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2017 tasting.Vinous Media | 96 VMThis is also aromatically quite cool and elegant while weaving notes of a plethora of floral elements with those of red cherry, raspberry and warm earth. The equally large-scaled flavors possess a quite supple yet impressively dense mid-palate that contrasts markedly with the very powerful, dusty and overtly austere finale that displays a hint of dryness. At present this is somewhat strict and note well that my rating offers the benefit of the doubt that the finish will better harmonize in time. As such, this will not make for especially good early drinking.Burghound | 92 BH

The 2017 Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze Grand Cru has an open, generous bouquet of predominantly red fruit, a little earthier than its peers but still gaining intensity in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, saturated tannins. It’s a little creamy in texture because of the oak, but there is plenty of fruit here and an almost sorbet-like freshness on the finish. Blimey... this surpasses all expectations and is contender for wine of the vintage. Brilliant. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2017 tasting.Vinous Media | 98 VMSome intensity of colour, more crimson than purple. Lifted spicy nose, quite interesting. Indeed this Chambertin-Clos de Bèze gains in complexity very quickly. Keep sniffing this. There is some dark berry fruit, with a gorgeous sensuality, a little pepperiness, so much detail, the intensity is lightly worn, a beauty. Tasted Sep 2021.Jasper Morris | 98 JMBruno Clair owns 1ha of Clos de Bèze, which is quite a lot given how extensive Pierre Damoy’s holdings are in the grand cru. This is a comparatively subtle, gentle wine rather than a late-picked blockbuster, with attractive 40% new wood, some chalky zip and nuanced red fruit sweetness.Decanter Magazine | 95 DECAn overtly floral, more elegant and airier nose displays a striking array of spice elements on the red and dark currant, herbal tea, earth and lavender scents. Here too the mouthfeel of the larger-scaled flavors is quite sophisticated while displaying plenty of punch on the youthfully austere finale that also flashes a touch of bitter fruit pit character. Lovely stuff.Burghound | 93 BH

The Drouhins’ holdings cover 0.5ha of this grand cru on both red and white soils. It’s another very impressive wine from a domaine that’s right at the top of its game under the new generation. Made with 25% whole bunches and 80% new wood, it’s a very complete expression of the grand cru with plenty of intensity and coiled power, some good underlying grip and a sappy, spicy, vanilla finish.Decanter Magazine | 96 DECThe 2017 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru has a very expressive bouquet with violet-tinged blackberry and boysenberry fruit, well defined and quite precise. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin, taut and linear for a Bonnes-Mares but the coiled-up energy is palpable here. There is such energy on the finish that you know that this will turn into an exceptionally fine Bonnes-Mares. Recommended.Vinous Media | 94-96 VM80% new wood 25% whole bunch vinification. Bonnes Mares has bounced back well from the 2016 frost. Rich purple, a certain sumptuous note to the wine, this has huge energy and a crystalline crunch, this has been judged just right. Good tannins to provide structure, fully ripe fruit but still with energy. Tasted Dec 2018.Jasper Morris | 92-96 JMThe fruit is dominated by reductive notes and there is a trace of the funk on the palate where there is otherwise good density and volume to the sappy mocha-infused if somewhat awkward finish. Normally when I find reduction on the palate it’s never a good sign (and I rarely rate such wines) but in this case my sense is that a thorough aeration will be sufficient to dissipate it. Still, I’m adding a question mark to my projected range as a cautionary sign.Burghound | 91-93 BH