2015 Vosne-Romanée, Les Beaux Monts, 1er Cru, Domaine Dujac, Burgundy

Healthy medium red. Distinctly more minerally on the nose than the Charmes-Chambertin, offering complex scents of black raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, violet and dark chocolate. It is also more open-knit on the palate but, at the same time, a bit more monolithic than its younger 2016 sibling, conveying a smoky reduction to its very dense, ripe flavours of purple fruits, chocolate and minerals. Still, this very ripe, tactile wine has the stuffing to support its big, broad tannins reaching the front teeth.

The 2015 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts reveals a classic bouquet of wood smoke, game bird, cherries and rich soil framed by a touch of new oak. The wine is full-bodied and ample on the palate, with good depth, juicy acids and a fine-grained chassis of tannins that asserts itself on the rather muscular finish. Served between the Bonnes Mares and Malconsorts, this Beaux Monts admirably held its own, but I may nonetheless be underrating it.

Drink 2025 - 2045

An overtly floral and spicy nose is quite restrained if exceptionally pretty with its cool array of spice, Asian-style tea, and red and blue pinot fruit scents. There is a terrific vibrancy to the much more mineral-driven medium-weight flavours, which also culminate in a linear and delineated finish that really firms up as it sits on the palate. This is very much built-to-age and will need at least half a dozen years to unwind. In a word, excellent.

Drink from 2027 onward