2012 Vosne Romanee Champs Perdrix

(the production here was 35 hectoliters per hectares--"our best crop," according to Bruno Clair, who believes that Vosne-Romanee and Nuits-Saint-Georges were favored appellations in 2012): Good bright, dark red. Pure aromas and flavors of cassis, blackberry, licorice and bitter chocolate. Dense and silky in the mouth, but with very good energy and sappy sweetness. Seriously chewy wine with good stuffing.

Another of the highlights in this range, the 2012 Vosne-Romanée Les Champs Perdrix is a real stunner. Layers of fruit blossom effortlessly in a gracious, totally voluptuous Vosne full of character. Sweet floral notes meld into spices and expressive red fruits. The Champs Perdrix is one of the last sites to ripen here. In 2012, the wine was also the last to finish its malo. Still, it is already wonderfully complete and expressive.

The 2012 Vosne-Romanee Les Champs Perdrix is bridled with an attractive, refined, floral bouquet with lifted dark cherry and bergamot fruit infused with minerals. It is tightly wound at the moment of course but it is sure to unfurl in bottle. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent tannins and exhibits very fine balance, but at the moment it comes across a little abrupt on the finish. Hopefully it will gain more length by the time of bottling. It was a balmy, sunny June morning when I last visited Domaine Bruno Clair to take a peek at their 2011s, but it was different arriving to taste their 2012s, the mercury struggling above zero, snow draped over vines. It was a pleasure to meet Bruno and Philippe Brun again, the “Batman and Robin” of Marsannay, Bruno sporting his favorite lumberjack jacket ready to cut down a few trees. At least he was warm. After some reminiscing about his good friend Patrick Bize, we set about the new arrivals. The 2012s were picked between 20 September and 1 October. His village crus are raised in new oak until racking in early September and then transferred into 15-hectolitre foudres to moderate the impact of the wood. Usually they de-stem the entire crop, but the ripeness of the stems meant that his top crus include 20% whole cluster this year. They both seemed enthusiastic about the vintage and rightly so – this is a domaine that shifted up a gear and vies for the village’s leading domaine (even though their Gevrey holdings make the synonymous with the village further south.) Bruno and Philippe just appear to have found the knack of creating wines with finesse and character, a more prudent approach that has fostered more terroir-driven Pinot Noirs. Their Clos Saint Jacques was once and “also ran”. Now it is up there with the likes of Fourrier and Rousseau. Importer: 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. Also through Justerini & Brooks and other merchants in the UK.