The 2020 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru is well-defined on the nose with joyful brambly red fruit laced with crushed stone, certainly one of the more mineral-driven wines from the famed closed wall. There is an almost crystalline quality here. The palate is medium-bodied with a sense of strictness, fresh and quite sapid, not powerful yet taut, and has a finish that makes you want another sip. This is a 2020 that surpassed expectations. Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, October 2024)
— a month ago
The 2020 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru has real intensity on the nose. It's very well-defined with layers of black cherry and blue fruit, mineral-driven with hints of violet emerging with aeration. But this is backward and holding itself back. The palate has exquisite balance. It's a little granular in texture, lightly spiced bordering on peppery, building beautifully in the mouth to exert an insistent grip on the finish. There is a grandeur about this Grand Cru that keeps you entranced, but it will demand time in bottle. Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, October 2024)
— a month ago
The 2020 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru has a fragrant, perfumed and classier bouquet than Hudelot-Baillet's Bonnes-Mares: well-defined with clever use of stems. Wonderful delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-boned tannins. Lovely symmetry and poise build towards a linear yet intense finish. It will require 4-5 years to subsume the oak, but there is great potential, and it has a sense of statesmanlike class. Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, October 2024)
— a month ago
The 2020 Ruchottes-Chambertin Grand Cru is clean and precise on the nose: an enticing mélange of red and black fruit, briar and a touch of aniseed. The palate is sapid on the entry, with wonderful vivacious red cherries and strawberry fruit laced with white pepper and allspice. Real depth and mineralité flood through on the (again) aniseed-tinged finish, completing an impressive wine. Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, October 2024)
— a month ago
The 2020 Chambertin Grand Cru is clean and precise on the nose, with raspberry and wild strawberry, crushed stone and discreet sous-bois scents. This, again, unfolds wonderfully in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with a gentle but insistent grip. It is more saline than Launay Horiot's Chambertin, with fine structure and a hint of spice towards the finish that has just a touch of piquancy. Bravo - this is a Chambertin from the top drawer. Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, October 2024)
— a month ago
The 2020 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Champeaux 1er Cru has a superior bouquet: wonderful delineation, control and mineralité, sophisticated and charming. The palate is medium-bodied with finely spun tannins, a taut line of acidity (this feels like the pH is lower than its peers) that imparts tension throughout. Sapid with raspberry, strawberry, black pepper and sous-bois on the finish, this is an excellent Premier Cru from Mortet. Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, October 2024)
— a month ago
The 2020 Corton Grand Cru is well-defined and focused on the nose, with a mélange of red and black fruit. Cedar and tobacco hints emerge with time. It has a soft, rounded entry with lower acidity, quite plush for a Corton, but it doesn't have the structure and precision of the best wines in this flight. Corpulent finish. Drink this over the next 15 years. Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, October 2024)
— a month ago
The 2020 Beaune Clos du Roi 1er Cru has some reduction on the nose, tightness, and broody at first, though it opens after ten minutes of aeration. I like the fruit profile here, which is wild strawberry and cranberry polished by oak. The palate is medium-bodied with fleshy, ripe red fruit, again, very polished by the new oak, detracting from the typicité. But it is a Beaune predesigned to seduce, and you cannot deny its cashmere finish and fresh figgy aftertaste. Charming. Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, October 2024)
— a month ago
The 2020 Corton Bressandes Grand Cru definitely has one of the more opulent bouquets in the flight, with lush black fruit laced with blood oranges and floral scents. Perhaps it is just missing a little delineation compared to the best in this flight, though that seems to manifest after ten minutes in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins and fresh, well-integrated oak. It's very harmonious, with a deft dash of black pepper on the finish. The 2020 is modern in style, maybe slightly roasted, but it just about works. Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, October 2024)
— a month ago
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The 2020 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru is understated on the nose, unfolding in the glass with fine delineation and poise, becoming more floral with aeration but never impeding across the pure red fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, taut and fresh, on another level of freshness compared to its peers with a prolonged, lightly spiced finish. This is one of the standout wines from this Grand Cru - superb. Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, October 2024)
— a month ago