2016 Corton Pougets

The 2016 Corton-Pougets Grand Cru (Domaine des Héritiers Jadot) is excellent, unwinding in the glass with a youthfully reserved bouquet of ripe cherries, wild berries and bergamot, complemented by savory bass notes of mossy forest floor, espresso roast and grilled squab. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, deep and tight-knit, with excellent amplitude and dimension, fine-grained but firm structuring tannins and a penetrating, mineral finish. The potential here is very fine indeed but this is not a wine for those seeking immediate gratification and a decade of patience will be in order.

The 2016 Corton Pougets Grand Cru has an earthy, cedar-tinged bouquet that has personality, nicely defined with good vigour. The palate is well defined with juicy ripe red cherry and boysenberry fruit, impressive focus with a more introverted finish that will hopefully come out of its shell once in bottle. This is one to watch.

(Jadot has four different vine ages in this grand cru and replants one-quarter of the surface every 20 or 25 years, according to Barnier, who added that no replanting is scheduled for the next decade or so; as with the Corton Grèves, the crop level was normal here in '16): Bright, dark red. Aromas of cherry, spices and soil convey a slight medicinal reserve and a pungent mineral nuance. Concentrated, savory and pliant; still a touch medicinal but with lovely subtle sweetness and expanding inner-mouth floral perfume, not to mention harmonious acidity. Finishes juicy and suavely tannic, with sneaky persistence.