2015 Domaine Dujac, Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru, Les Beaux Monts

The 2015 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts was showing some reduction on the nose, although there is clearly plenty of ripe red cherry and cranberry fruit underneath. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin and a silver bead of acidity. This comes across as being very harmonious with good backbone; saline in the mouth with a persistent, peppery aftertaste that lasts for over a minute. This is simply a Beaux Monts from the top-drawer.

(racked): Bright, dark red. Raspberry and smoky minerality complicated by musky soil tones on the nose. Ripe and dense but light on its feet; not a particularly fleshy or viscous version of Beaux Monts but sappy, saline and highly concentrated, conveying a strong impression of terroir . Finishes firmly tannic and very long.

The 2015 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts reveals a classic bouquet of wood smoke, game bird, cherries and rich soil, framed by a touch of new oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied and ample, with good depth, juicy acids and a fine-grained chassis of tannins that asserts itself on the rather muscular finish. Served between the Bonnes Mares and Malconsorts, this Beaux Monts admirably held its own, but I may nonetheless be underrating it.

Not racked. Vosne edgy and a bit green. Just a bit tough at the moment. Dry end. The stage rather than the wine? (JR)