2009 Charmes Chambertin

The 2009 Charmes-Chambertin is beautifully balanced and harmonious from start to finish. This regal, aristocratic Charmes fleshes out in all directions, showing off its considerable elegance and finesse. A persistent vein of minerality gives the wine its sense of proportion and energy. Dugat used 50% whole bunches on his Charmes. There is so much pure pleasure in every taste.

Bright red-ruby. At once liqueur-like and sappy on the nose, with a slightly roasted quality to the maraschino cherry, licorice and earth flavors. Huge and sweet but with a surprising spine of acidity giving the wine excellent inner-mouth energy and cleansing the palate on the superb, mounting finish. Really lovely sweetness of fruit here, with the fine tannins arriving late. In spite of this wine's considerable early appeal, I'd give it a decade in the cellar. The ripe phenolics of 2009, made possible by moderate yields at this address, have played well to Dugat's normally extractive style.

Full red-ruby. Blackberry, cassis, licorice and violet on the nose. Juicy, tight and youthfully imploded; in fact, surprisingly strict after the enticing nose. Penetrating acidity currently hides this wine's underlying flesh and keeps the flavors under wraps. But this should be strong with several years of bottle aging.