2010 Domaine Bruno Clair, Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru, Les Cazetiers

The 2010 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cazetiers is a deep, spherical wine endowed with tons of class and personality. Sweet floral notes meld into dark red and blue fruit in this seamless, beautifully textured Burgundy. Saline notes mark the long, polished finish. Despite a great showing, my sense is that the wine isn’t quite ready to reveal the full breadth and class of its pedigree. That will come, but only over time. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2030. This is a fabulous set of wines from Bruno Clair and his long-time oenologist Philippe Brun. The harvest started on September 25. Yields were 22-30 hectoliters per hectare, which is to say a good 10% less than 2003, a torrid vintage marked by tiny yields. Clair describes the fruit as healthy, with no botrytis and soft tannins from the late harvest. The 2010s were 100% destemmed. New oak ranged from 25% for the villages to 50% for the Grand Crus, except for the Marsannays, which saw very little new oak. A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet, various American importers, including: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808, Fine Vines, Melrose Park, IL; tel. (708) 343-6702, The Source, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 621-6151

Good medium red. Rather wild aromas of cherry, spices, game and earth; reminded me of a Mazi-Chambertin! Supple and deeply spicy, if a bit foursquare in the early going. Finishes broad and ripe but a tad dry. The wine's juiciness suggests that it will improve in the bottle.

Planted 1958. Bit of a paradox because it’s easier to taste than the Clos St-Jacques. Dark crimson. Very sweet and concentrated and there is something reminiscent of rioja about this! Solid and strawberry and engaging but not fine. (JR)