2015 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru Domaine Perrot-Minot

Very much a Charmes Charmes, rather than a Mazoyères, this comes from the higher, southern part of the Grand Cru, on stony soils next to Morey-St-Denis. Pale in colour and beguilingly scented, it has sweet berry fruit, just a touch of oak and a long, stony, minerally finish. 2020-28.

Here there is no reduction as the admirably pure, elegant and spice-suffused nose offers up a beautiful array of various red berries along with hints of earth and violets. There is a highly seductive texture to the dense, mouth coating and extract-rich flavors that deliver excellent length on the mildly austere and tension-filled finale.

The 2015 Charmes Chambertin Vieilles Vignes has a complex nose that demanded more coaxing from the glass compared to the domaine's other 2015s. It almost reluctantly unfolds (unusual for this grand cru) with scents of crushed rose petals, oyster shell, dark cherry and a hint of bergamot. The definition is very fine, but you can tell that it will remain closed for a period after bottling. The palate is medium- bodied with fine tannin, a structured and more masculine Charmes- Chambertin than I expected, yet with ample depth and tight grip on the finish. I would have just preferred more persistence in the mouth, but that may develop with bottle age. One to watch..

Brilliant dark Pinot red. Wonderfully subtle, high-pitched scents of raspberry, rose petal and stony minerality. Sharply delineated but not yet showy in the middle palate, with its pungent red fruit and floral flavors currently overshadowed by mineral salts. Youthfully tight in spite of its delicacy and finesse, this classic "true" Charmes will need considerable patience. The substantial dusty tannins show no rough edges.

Full dark red. Pungent scents of raspberry, crushed rock and rose petal. At once silky, sappy and savory, conveying a captivating light touch and terrific inner-mouth tension to its sharply delineated red raspberry, pomegranate and crushed-rock flavors. Finishes with compelling mounting perfume and saliva-inducing briskness. Not at all a fleshpot for the vintage, this classy Charmes-Chambertin struck me as rather Chambolle-like.