2012 Domaine Faiveley, Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru

Tasted blind at the annual "Burgfest" tasting in Beaune. The 2012 Mazis Chambertin Grand Cru from Faiveley has a beguiling nose with brambly red berry fruit, damp earth, cold flagstone and just a faint smear of marmalade. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, supple tannin matched with assiduous acidity that lends tension and poise. It is quite backward, even compared to other grand cru 2012s, but there is the substance and the breeding here to suggest a seriously long and pleasurable evolution. This is one of the standouts of the Côte de Nuits.

Good medium red. Distinctly riper on the nose than the Latricieres, even a touch stewy. Then rich and wild on the palate, with a brooding quality to the dark fruit, spice and graphite flavors. Showing little in the way of easy sweetness today but very closed. More saline than fruity or floral on the persistent finish. This wine needs longer elevage, noted Hervet, who expected to bottle it in April--a good three months later than the Latricieres. Certainly in an awkward stage today.