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94-96 NM.
"The 2016 Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St Jacques comes from vines of the same age, clone, rootstock and massale selection as the Cazetiers. It has a more introverted bouquet than the Cazetiers, with dark fruit, broody but compelling. This seriously needs time in bottle. The palate is very well balanced with a confit-like entry, a silver bead of acidity, subtle notes of fig infusing the red berry fruit on the finish, later quince and graphite coming through with time. The persistence is astonishing here, still lingering in the mouth by the time Bruno is pouring the next sample. I only had a short visit to Bruno Clair, partly because of a busy itinerary and partly because they were caught in the crossfire of the frost, many of their vineyards being situated in Marsannay, Savigny-lès-Beaune and Chambolle-Musigny. Bruno told me that there were several cuvées that bit the dust. He commenced the picking on 23 September and then over the following two weeks, vinification was normal except that he opted to use slightly less whole bunch than in previous years. He plans to bottle in spring. These wines were all tasted from barrel and had been racked three weeks before my visit. This truncated range was admittedly up and down and some cuvées appeared to lack fruit and felt rather ossified, crying out for more flesh and fruité. Then along came a wondrous Morey-Saint-Denis En Rue La Vergy and my heart began beating once more. Similarly, the monopole of Clos des Fonteny shimmered with mineral tension and the Cazetiers challenged the presupposed superiority of the Clos Saint-Jacques (although the latter won out in the end.) The two grand crus delivered the goods but if I had to purchase just a single wine from Bruno this vintage, it may well be from those vineyards high up in En Rue La Vergy." Neal Martin, Wine Advocate #234, Dec 2017 |