2010 Charmes Chambertin

(true Charmes; purchased fruit from two growers): Good deep red. Cherry pastille and flowers on the nose, complicated by notes of game, menthol and stone. Fat and sweet but with some disjointed acidity yet to be evolved. Distinctly more obvious and less complex than the Clos Saint-Jacques and Cazetiers. The tannins are a tad dry but the finish shows lovely lingering perfume.

The 2010 Charmes-Chambertin is a ravishing wine bursting with vibrant dark cherries, menthol, flowers, spices and graphite. It boasts gorgeous freshness, clarity and nuance from start to finish. A backbone of insistent minerality gives the wine its center and focus. This is dazzling juice. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2040. I tasted an amazing range of 2010 reds at Jadot with long-term winemaker Jacques Lardiere and his successor Frederic Barnier. In order to make this large section of the report easier to read, I have broken up the wines into the Cote de Beaune and Cote de Nuits. Lardiere and Barnier told me they were quite worried about the prospects for the harvest upon their return from summer vacations in August, but the year was saved by a perfect September. Yields are down 25-50% because of the frost and cold weather earlier in the year, but overall quality is very high. Lardiere and Barnier also noted that early on it appeared that there would be a wide gap in quality between the Cote de Beaune and the Cote de Nuits, but over time that gap narrowed to some extent. Still, there is little question the vintage was more challenging in the Cote de Beaune because of a rainier summer and overall higher precipitation throughout the year. Importer: Kobrand Corp., Purchase, NY; tel. (914) 253-7756

The 2010 Charmes-Chambertin is a ravishing wine bursting with vibrant dark cherries, menthol, flowers, spices and graphite. It boasts gorgeous freshness, clarity and nuance from start to finish. A backbone of insistent minerality gives the wine its center and focus. This is dazzling juice. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2040. ||I tasted an amazing range of 2010 reds at Jadot with long-term winemaker Jacques Lardiere and his successor Frederic Barnier. In order to make this large section of the report easier to read, I have broken up the wines into the Cote de Beaune and Cote de Nuits. Lardiere and Barnier told me they were quite worried about the prospects for the harvest upon their return from summer vacations in August, but the year was saved by a perfect September. Yields are down 25-50% because of the frost and cold weather earlier in the year, but overall quality is very high. Lardiere and Barnier also noted that early on it appeared that there would be a wide gap in quality between the Cote de Beaune and the Cote de Nuits, but over time that gap narrowed to some extent. Still, there is little question the vintage was more challenging in the Cote de Beaune because of a rainier summer and overall higher precipitation throughout the year. Wine Advocate.February, 2012