2016 Chambertin Clos de Beze

(these vines are not organically farmed but no herbicides are used here): Good medium red. Musky, wild, expressive scents of red cherry and strawberry liqueur. Plush, fine-grained and very ripe, with its red berry flavors currently overshadowed by spices and savory soil tones. I find this a bit youthfully disjointed and lacking in sweetness. Two-thirds of this wine comes from the lower half of this grand cru and the other third from millerandé vines in the top half, which were vinified with a higher percentage of their stems and contribute the spicy character. Finishes reticent and tight, with dusty tannins. This wine will need much more cellaring than the Clos Vougeot; Magnien suggests waiting 15 years. (Incidentally, one of Magnien's employees "polluted" the 2015 Clos de Bèze with sulfur and Magnien had to reimburse his clients who had pre-paid for the wine.)