Domaine Ponsot Charmes-Chambertin Cuvee des Merles, Cote de Nuits, France

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Aromas of peonies, cinnamon, orange rind, plums and warm spices introduce the 2019 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru Cuvée des Merles, a full-bodied, layered and enveloping wine that's seamless and complete. Lively but gourmand, this is one of the highlights of the Ponsot portfolio this year.

Lavish and expressive, the 2017 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru Cuvée des Merles bursts from the glass with a fruit-driven bouquet of ripe cherries, licorice, spices and sweet soil that is typical of this vineyard. Full-bodied, satiny and expansive, the wine's fine structuring tannins are entirely cloaked in succulent fruit. The finish displays good length and delineation. Of all Ponsot's grands crus, this will be the best bet for near-term consumption.

The 2014 Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru Cuvée des Merles has a precise, almost pixelated, limestone-infused bouquet that blossoms in the glass with its vibrant red cherries, strawberry and bergamot scents. The palate is medium-bodied with very supple tannin. The acidity here is very well judged, smooth and silky in the mouth, extremely pure with stupendous precision on the long finish. It is the kind of Charmes-Chambertin that you instantly fall in love with. Beautiful...just beautiful.

The 2013 Charmes-Chambertin Cuvée des Merles Grand Cru has a slight reduction on the nose that will disappear after racking. The palate is clean and fresh with small dark cherries, a touch of blueberry, good acidity and fine tension on the finish. This keeps the character of Charmes-Chambertin and offers a fine purity and elegance. It just does not possess quite the same convincing depth and breadth of Laurent's other 2013 Grand Crus at this prenatal moment.

The 2012 Charmes-Chambertin Cuvee des Merles has a precise bouquet with scents of boysenberry jam intermingling with blackberry and a little pine. The palate is silky smooth with fresh black fruit: blackberry and bilberry at the tip of the tongue, more dark plum towards the back. There is a touch of reduction just occluding the finish but that will of course clear by bottling. Good matiere here – I would give this 4-5 years in bottle. Last year, Laurent bought a single barrel from the Hospices auction that he said was like chewing a piece of wood when he received it. (He’s actually not the only one with that sentiment.) Laurent Ponsot, when he is not the Lone Ranger fighting alleged fraud, is busy making wine in his own individual way from his winery perched on the higher reaches overlooking Morey village. As ever, he is refreshingly candid in his views, passionate about the tenets he applies to winemaking, but always counterbalanced with tongue-in-cheek humor. I concentrated on the premier and grand cru 2012s since he was just about to bottle his village crus after one year and they were not ready. He told me that he commenced picking on 3 October, several days later than most winemakers, a date that he assured me he knew as far back as June due to natural indicators, whatever they may be. Yields averaged around 19 hectoliters per hectare, lower for the grand crus, while his famous Aligote from Monts Luisants was wiped out by oidium not from the vines, but from the nearby forest that pricked the flavor of the wine. (I did mischievously quip that I knew of someone in the United States who might be able to rustle some up if so desired – I could not help myself). What I like about Laurent’s wines is that they are edgy, uncompromising, occasionally “Marmite” wines that perhaps like the man himself, goes out to divide opinion and create debate. His strict use of old barrels combined with a dizzying array of grand crus combine to create distinct wines that tend to wear their heart of their sleeves. Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802, Atherton Wine Imports (CA) and through Geodhuis & Co in the UK.