The 2016 Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru was reduced to just four hectoliters this vintage. It includes 20% whole cluster fruit and will spend 16 months in oak. It felt a little muted at first but soon found its voice with pretty crushed violet-tinged blackberry and cassis fruit. I like the delineation here. The palate is well balanced if not as nuanced or refined as the Clos de Vougeot, more masculine than its peers with a saline finish that lingers. Good, but not the greatest this year.

The 2015 Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru has an elegant, floral bouquet with violets petals and wild hedgerow scents infusing the dark cherry and raspberry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with a confit-like entry, a fine thread of acidity, tensile and long with an edginess on the finish. There is a surprising touch of licorice on the aftertaste that I hope will be there after bottling. There is a bit of brio and flamboyance to this Griotte-Chambertin that I hope will govern the wine once in bottle.

The 2013 Griotte-Chambertin was cropped on October 8, partial whole-cluster with a 23-day maceration, and will spend slightly longer in oak. It was a small harvest of only three barrels (18 hectoliters per hectare). This sample had not been racked. It has an exuberant, almost Bonnes-Mares-like bouquet with small black cherries, blueberry, truffle and attractive chalky scents. The palate is medium-bodied with a very sensual entry, the oak a little conspicuous at the moment, but that will be subsumed with time. Plush and luxuriant, try to resist this for several years after bottling. This is "killer juice" (not a technical term) from Drouhin.