2014 Gevrey Chambertin Les Combottes

Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2014 tasting, Dujac's 2014 Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru aux Combottes obviously has a lot of whole-bunch fruit, and the stems protrude too much, defining the character of this wine rather than the terroir or fruit. The palate is very stemmy from the start, quite hard and certainly uncompromising, and I wonder if it has sufficient fruit to see it through? It is a wine that could go either way at this point, although I remain optimistic as it did improve in the glass, that stemmy note receding and replaced by an attractive spiciness. Not quite as compelling as the superb Morey-Saint-Denis premier cru at the moment but still a fine wine. Tasted September 2017.

Medium red. Sexy high-toned scents of strawberry, coffee and dried rose. At once dense and lively on the palate, with red berry flavors accented by pungent spices and graphite minerality. Still a bit youthfully tough but the tannins spread out horizontally to dust the palate on the persistent back end. This sappy premier cru needs time.