2015 Domaine Louis Jadot, Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru

Bright medium red. Sexy, soil-driven aromas of red cherry, raspberry, underbrush, rose petal and salty minerality; wonderfully subtle and complex. Silky on entry, then densely packed but weightless in the mid-palate, displaying outstanding inner-mouth spicy, floral lift to its intense red fruit and saline mineral flavors. A creamy, utterly seamless old-vines Chapelle with extremely refined tannins and inexorable subtle rising length. Outstanding--but will this wine shut down hard in bottle? Really captures the best qualities of the vintage without sacrificing its typicity.

The 2015 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru has a slight dustiness on the nose at first, though underneath lies some attractive red berry fruit intermingling with earth and leather. The palate is medium-bodied and a little conservative in style, displaying chewy tannin, moderate acidity and a brisk blackberry- and raspberry-driven finish accented by black pepper on the aftertaste. Fine, but I suspect it will deserve a more generous appraisal in several years’ time. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting.

Tank sample. Good fruit density underneath and some polish but still very much a work in progress. Lots of grainy tannin. Serious and lively. (JR)