This wine figures prominently on my list for 'best of the vintage', edged out only slightly by its stablemate Clos de Bèze. It is a wine of great intensity, with pronounced, forward, brambly blackberry fruit, notes of lavender, smoke, a hint of wood spice, and compelling savoury complexity. The texture is firmly tannic and dense but not imposing. There is no lack of fresh acidity, yet everything is in balance, and the overall impression is one of seamless beauty.

I have always been a Chambertin man when it comes to the two bottlings at the top of the pecking order in the Rousseau family’s cellars, though they are often qualitatively at the same exalted level. It is just the aromatic and flavor elements of complexity in their Chambertin hits all of the sweet spots on my palate. The 2021 Chambertin here is magical, with the bouquet wafting from the glass in a beautiful blend of red and dark plums, black cherries, cocoa powder, grilled meats, a touch of raw cocoa, violets, a gorgeously complex base of soil tones and cedary oak. On the palate the wine is simply stunning: full-bodied, sappy at the core, soil-driven and seamless, with great backend energy and lift, fine-grained tannins and great complexity. A brilliant wine in the making.

Thoroughly classy, this wine's aromas leap out of the glass. Black plums and cherries are scented with vanilla bean and baking spice. Generous tannins bounce against the muscular mid-palate. Refreshing acidity keeps the flavors flowing into a persistent finish. The usually marked new oak was well-behaved when I tasted this and allowed the fruit to have equal footing.

A fine glowing purple, with just the lightest touch of reduction. Then waves of flavour on the palate, extra depth in the middle, but still more discreet than usual. This will have the grace of Chambertin but not quite the depth of the greatest years. Well-made and persistent

Note: 2.55 ha; 100% new wood. Intricately layered aromas of spice, earth, dark berries, underbrush, dried floral hints and leather are trimmed in just enough wood to merit pointing out. The texture of the medium-bodied flavors is ultra-fine yet there is plenty of power and punch, particularly on the intensely mineral-inflected, youthfully austere, serious and amazingly persistent finish that really fans out as it sits on the palate. In particular, the complexity is already remarkable, and this beautifully balanced effort should amply repay mid to longer-term keeping.