2010 - Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jacques, Bruno Clair

The 2010 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St. Jacques is deep, round and powerful. The intense tannins are beautifully matched by the intensity of the fruit. Expressive mentholated, spiced notes develop in the glass, adding complexity and gravitas. The fruit turns positively explosive on the finish. The Clos St. Jacques has a very bright future ahead of it. This is a dazzling showing. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2030. This is a fabulous set of wines from Bruno Clair and his long-time oenologist Philippe Brun. The harvest started on September 25. Yields were 22-30 hectoliters per hectare, which is to say a good 10% less than 2003, a torrid vintage marked by tiny yields. Clair describes the fruit as healthy, with no botrytis and soft tannins from the late harvest. The 2010s were 100% destemmed. New oak ranged from 25% for the villages to 50% for the Grand Crus, except for the Marsannays, which saw very little new oak. A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet, various American importers, including: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808, Fine Vines, Melrose Park, IL; tel. (708) 343-6702, The Source, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 621-6151

Good bright medium red. Knockout aromas of raspberry, dark cherry and rose petal. Densely packed yet weightless, offering terrific inner-mouth tension and precision to the tangy flavors of red cherry, raspberry and flowers. Wonderfully penetrating, high-pitched wine with a firm spine of tannins and acids for extended aging. I would not be at all surprised if this merited an even higher score a decade down the road. (Tragically, my sample of Clair's Clos de Beze was corked.)

Planted 1957. Lighter nose than the Cazetiers. Lots of tension and acidity. Fine and racy and introvert. Subtle. Almost austere. Hugely refreshing. (JR)