The name is a little fun – the stocks of Claire’s wines are held in ‘area 18’ in the cellars at Laboure-Roi, but Claire also thought the name was quite nice, in the manner of ‘Bin 28’ – I must remember to bring her a bottle next time! The old (a mix of 50 and 80 years-old) vines, despite being sited in an old vineyard in the area of Beaune are only classed as ‘regional’, that said, they ripen very early and in 2007 were some of the cleanest fruit the team worked with. Good colour. The nose starts in a pronounced floral way, slowly changing in the glass to offer more ‘straight-forward’ red fruits and eventually a nice, soft caramel aspect. A slightly soft entry with interesting fruit and a nice balance. Interesting and worthy bourgogne if well priced.