2014 Gevrey Chambertin Clos St Jacques
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Tasting notes
Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2014 tasting, Esmonin's 2014 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jacques feels a little jammy on the nose by comparison to Rousseau and Jean-Marie Fourrier's 2014s: succulent ripe dark cherry and blackcurrant fruit, bold 'n' brassy yet with admirable purity. The palate is medium-bodied with chewy tannin, the oak still present and a guiding hand at the moment, though there is plenty of brooding dark fruit beneath it. It will need several years in the cellar before the rough edges are abraded by time and the terroir begins to show through. Tasted September 2017.
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
Bright medium red. Wild scents of black raspberry, minerals and musky game. Juicy and penetrating; began quite linear, with modest flesh, but aeration brought an expanding creaminess to its black fruit flavors. Finishes with ripe, building tannins. The deepest of these 2014s--no surprise!--but in need of cellaring. This wine may ultimately merit a higher score.
(60% vendange entier ; 60% new oak): Saturated, bright red-ruby. Precise aromas of black cherry, licorice, minerals and violet. Like liquid silk in the mouth, but with lovely sappy energy to the black cherry and dark chocolate flavors. Finishes broad, perfumed and long. These wines seem a bit stunted today owing to the cold cellar temperature.
The 2014 Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint Jacques came in with hardly any sorting required because the grapes were so healthy according to Sylvie Esmonin. The vintage includes 50% whole bunch fruit and is matured in 75% new oak. It has a charming blackcurrant, boysenberry and mineral-tinged bouquet that is extremely well defined -- superb mineralité here. The palate is very well balanced with good density, but it is the freshness and tension that drive this on, a tinge of black pepper lending complexity to the energetic finish. The oak is nicely integrated and allows the terroir to shine through. Très bon.