2012 Ruchottes Chambertin Grand Cru

The 2012 Ruchottes-Chambertin Grand Cru is one of the outstanding wines of the vintage. Pure and sensual on the nose, replete with that breath-taking clarity, it dares to show more fruit intensity than the Romanée-Saint-Vivant from DRC served blind alongside. The palate is medium-bodied with tart red cherries and crushed stone, very mineral-driven with a wonderful, linear finish that is saving fireworks for those with the nous to age this another four or five years. Brilliant. Tasted blind at 67 Pall Mall in London.

The 2012 Ruchottes-Chambertin remains an absolutely stunning wine although it might have closed up a little in recent months. It retains that breath-taking clarity on the nose: crystalline wild strawberry and red cherry notes, fresh and so mineral that you can just feel that limestone bedrock permeating every pore of this startling, beguiling wine. It is a masterpiece – one of the wines of the vintage without doubt. Served blind at Maison de Colombier in Beaune.

Tasted blind at the annual "Burgfest" tasting in Beaune. The 2012 Ruchottes Chambertin Grand Cru has a flamboyant and expressive nose, the kind the rushes out of the glass to give your sense a ginormous hug - maraschino, cranberry and orange sorbet, and with aeration that initial exuberance is replaced by almost ineffable finesse. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, ripe tannin and fine acidity, pure in the mouth with a caressing, harmonious texture towards the finish. This is a seriously fine, outstanding grand cru that has a glorious future ahead. This must sure be Mugneret-Gibourg? So it turns out. It's just a whisker away from perfection.