Wine Advisor
Olivier Bernstein, Chambertin Grand Cru 2015
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Dark medium red. Ineffable nose combines tight, wild red berries, musky animal nuances and a hint of torrefaction, enlivened by hint notes of wild mint and white pepper. Densely packed and chewy; a distinctly masculine wine with outstanding intensity and underlying structure. And yet the texture is silky too. This utterly palate-saturating wine finishes with explosive rising notes of red berries, game, licorice, pepper, mint and saline minerality and great perfumed persistence. The crop level from these old vines and small berries was between 30 and 35 hectoliters per hectare, as Bernstein routinely does multiple green harvests here to ensure that the clusters finish at roughly the same level of potential alcohol. Incidentally, Bernstein attempted to ensure freshness in his 2015s by using 80% whole clusters to balance the ripeness of the fruit.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Bright ruby-red. Profound nose offers subtle, extremely pure notes of black raspberry, black cherry and licorice complicated by musky, spicy soil tones. Incredibly full but youthfully imploded, with racy acidity accentuating the wine's perfume. Comes across as cooler than the Clos de Bèze, as Chambertin normally is, saturating the entire palate without leaving any impression of weight. Finishes firmly tannic and a bit austere, with a captivating wildness. Sure to be a long-distance runner, this wine offers great potential.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Dark medium red. Ineffable nose combines tight, wild red berries, musky animal nuances and a hint of torrefaction, enlivened by hint notes of wild mint and white pepper. Densely packed and chewy; a distinctly masculine wine with outstanding intensity and underlying structure. And yet the texture is silky too. This utterly palate-saturating wine finishes with explosive rising notes of red berries, game, licorice, pepper, mint and saline minerality and great perfumed persistence. The crop level from these old vines and small berries was between 30 and 35 hectoliters per hectare, as Bernstein routinely does multiple green harvests here to ensure that the clusters finish at roughly the same level of potential alcohol. Incidentally, Bernstein attempted to ensure freshness in his 2015s by using 80% whole clusters to balance the ripeness of the fruit.
About the Producer
Located in the Gevery-Chambertin region of Burgundy, France, Olivier Bernstein is a winery dedicated to making small-lot, high-quality wines. Château Bernstein was founded by Olivier Bernstein. Born into a musical family, Olivier originally worked in international management. After working in Europe, Asia and the Americas, he felt a strong connection between wine and his native France and began to work part-time in vineyard management, grape harvesting and winemaking. Olivier's interest in wine grew and led to a degree in viticulture and winemaking at Beaune. In 2002, at the age of 35, Olivier finally became a winemaker, having tasted the wines of all the great Burgundy estates and studying under Henri Jayer. He bought 8 hectares of old vine vineyards in Tautavel, Roussillon, and created Mas de la Deveze. In 2007, Olivier created Château Bernstein under his own name. Château Bernstein is dedicated to making small-lot, high-quality Grand Cru and Premier Cru Burgundy wines. The winery favours old vine grapes because of their excellent balance and low yields. In order to obtain high quality, healthy grapes, the Château carries out root aeration, canopy management and flower and fruit thinning as required during the vine growing. Once ripe, the grapes at Château Bernstein are picked by hand and transported separately in small trays back to the cellar, where they are sorted a second time. The winery adjusts its winemaking process according to the quality of the vintage. The harvested grapes are destemmed and macerated at low temperature for 6-7 days, with regular drenching and, if necessary, treading of the skins during fermentation. Once fermentation is complete, the wine is matured in new French oak barrels made by Stephane Chassin, the famous oak barrel maker. The wines are not filtered or clarified before bottling. Château Bernstein offers a wide range of Grand Cru and Premier Cru Burgundy wines, which are of excellent quality and are very popular with consumers, with some wines being ordered before they are even released.
