Lovely aromas; red fruit and faint herbs with a minty edge then a depth of darker fruit – bravo. Whilst there are great reserves of flavour, like the last wine today it is the structure that commands attention – lots of mildly grained ripe tannin. Classy all the same.

Medium, medium-plus colour. A hint of smoke (yes stems – about 20%, same as the Nuits wines above), silky width, but very primary. Intensity and width across the palate, balance and flavours that continue to seep from your teeth and cheeks after the wine has gone. Plenty of structure, but no hard edges.

A precociously forward nose – it hits you before your nose even reaches into the glass. Ignoring the complex, spicy oak character – and there is a lot of it – the core of the nose is a trip through red, down to black fruit, lower down it is a mineral, coal-like effect. Very high quality indeed. Eventually it takes on coffee, chocolate and a subtle creamyness. This is just a little tighter and with less fireworks than last time, it’s lost a little of the buttery texture (a good thing!), but the frame and proportions of the wine are awesome. Perfect balance, mineral, multi-dimensional and long. It’s drinking fine now, but this will be more and more stunning as it develops – what price one of these when it nears its 40th birthday!

Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is showing rather more dark oak and faint caramel over the darker-hued fruit. Softer and silkier in the mouth – clearly more oak. The acidity is a little more forward than the last wine, but it’s stunningly long finishing – though the flavours are dominated by the same dark barrel notes as from the nose. A lot of buttery oak texture but the wine survives and impresses despite that. Another stunner but I prefer the Faiveley today.

The same supplier for the last 17 years – so Philippe Prost suggests it can virtually be considered ‘domaine’. Wide and complex if not so deep as Le Corton. In the mouth it’s intense and complex with super acidity and plenty of tannin. It’s very long, though a good proportion of that length is oak derived. Always an excellent bottling.

This is the one wine that really stamps it’s own personality on the aromatics. Usually higher-toned floral notes tend to sit in a layer above the rest of the aromatics, here it is more like they are encapsulated by the rest of the aromas – really fine and super elegant. Concentrated certainly, but the fruit does a super job of covering the wealth of tannins. This quite mineral wine expands wonderfully well into a finish that really delivers. It’s an understated delivery compared to some wines from Chambertin/Bèze in 2005, but it’s really a first class wine.

Aromatics that are wide and deep, a little blurred vs the previous Nuits, but there’s certainly more going on. Slowly a note of violet comes to the fore, focus improving all the time. Like the Corton, a more classically proportioned palate. Really good balance between the structure and fruit. Very, very good.
Aromatics that are wide and deep, a little blurred vs the previous Nuits, but there’s certainly more going on. Slowly a note of violet comes to the fore, focus improving all the time. Like the Corton, a more classically proportioned palate. Really good balance between the structure and fruit. Very, very good.

Not a domaine owned vineyard, but the same supplier of grapes used for many years. Medium colour again. The nose is deep with some barrel toast evident, but not giving much more away. The palate is very round and tannic, but the tannins are finely grained. Lovely depth of concentrated fruit. Actually a very forward and drinkable wine here. Very lovely.