Wine Advisor
Sylvie Esmonin, Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St Jacques 2012
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(vinified with 75% whole clusters; 90% new oak): Bright, dark red. Reduced aromas of black raspberry and licorice accented by spices. Rich, round and voluminous yet light on its feet owing to intense minerality and lively acidity; offers complex flavors of black raspberry, black cherry, redcurrant, spices, flowers and crushed rock. An element of peppery, spicy herbs really lifts the finish today while giving the wine a slight edge that calls for patience.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(75% vendange entier; harvested with 12.7% potential alcohol; production was just 25 hectoliters per hectare, according to Esmonin): Good deep red. Slightly reduced but complex aromas of black raspberry, cherry, spices, coffee, mocha and smoky oak. Dense, sappy and sweet, showing a seriously rich texture to its saline berry and mocha flavors. I don't find this layered, very ripe Clos Saint-Jacques particularly floral today but there's superb fruit intensity here. And the huge, palate-dusting finish, with captivating saline minerality and a suggestion of wild small berries, leaves the taste buds vibrating.
About the Producer
Sylvie Esmonin runs a 7.66 ha domaine in Gevrey-Chambertin. When she arrived at the domaine 1985 the wine was still sold in bulk. She changed that. The wine was bottled at the domaine under the Domaine Michel Esmonin et Fille label. In 1998 it was changed to Domaine Sylvie Esmonin. The domaine is not particularly old, but the family is. The family goes back to the time of the Dukes of Burgundy. The family was here long before Burgundy became French. We are a family of small winegrowers. Thanks to marriages the domaine has become what it is today. The main part of the domaine’s vineyards are located in and around Gevrey-Chambertin. In addition to that there is a small part of Volnay Santenots, as well as some Bourgogne blanc in Meursault.
