2012 Mazis Chambertin

Three pièces. 95% whole bunch. 100% new oak. Serious with a floral top note but really serious ripe tannins. Great black intensity. Quite a bit of tannin.Ambitious. Made for the long term. Slightly dry end. Reminds me of a bit of rich satin folded. Intense and needs lots of time. (JR)

There are three barrels of the 2012 Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru this year, which includes around 85% whole cluster fruit. Despite a touch of reduction, the floral nature of this grand cru shows through, violets and rose petals sprinkled over the intense dark berry fruit and minerals. The palate is very concentrated with intense black fruit. It offers a beguiling sense of symmetry and one of the most powerful finishes that you will find in this vintage. This is a true vin de garde – don’t touch for 15 years, but it will be a behemoth to behold. Rapping the door at Domaine Dugat-Py, at first sight I thought that Bernard Dugat had aged a little…about thirty years to be exact. Now I know that his parents live in the conjoined house next door and that his son inherited his looks from his father, Pierre Dugat, as well as some of the most propitious vineyard holdings in Gevrey. Bernard’s wines have always had a modern sheen with relatively high use of new oak from his village crus upwards (100% for all his premier and grand crus.) These are not wines for those expecting subtlety or “transparency” – they are packed with intense flavors, bold structure and occasionally extravagant finishes. The 2012s are no exception, but for the most part these wines handles the new oak with aplomb, principally because a combination of grand crus and old vines give the solid foundation for that level of new oak, that culminate in a quite audacious Mazis-Chambertin. Of course, as Bernard mentioned, his preponderance of old vine material meant that he was hit hard by millerandage and as a consequence yields are miniscule: around 18 or 19hl/ha. The harvest commenced on 21 September with the premier crus and like many growers the malo-lactics were late, which meant that I was unable to taste two or three crus such as the Gevrey Petite Chapelle. If you like your Burgundy packed full of intensity but with finesse and do not mind cellaring for a decade a more, Dugat-Py is the place to come. Importer: The Sorting Table, LLC, 1700 Second Street Suite 380 Napa, CA 94559 ; tel: 707-603-1466 and also through Lea & Sandeman in the UK.

There are three barrels of the 2012 Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru this year, which includes around 85% whole cluster fruit. Despite a touch of reduction, the floral nature of this grand cru shows through, violets and rose petals sprinkled over the intense dark berry fruit and minerals. The palate is very concentrated with intense black fruit. It offers a beguiling sense of symmetry and one of the most powerful finishes that you will find in this vintage. This is a true vin de garde – don’t touch for 15 years, but it will be a behemoth to behold. Dec 2013, www.robertparker.com