I remember reading somewhere, Laurent likes to show off this particular label of his considerable portfolio when he needs to impress someone of the results of his recent labours (remembering, of course, Laurent buys all his wine in as grapes or must). On tonight’s showing, I can see why!

Labelled  by many scribes as Mr. 200% Oak (for his regular practise of racking new barrel into new barrel) this wine contradicts the (often justified) generalisation.

Displaying a rust-infused, deep plummy colour, the bouquet offers up wonderful spicy, sappy scents of Satsuma plum, sous bois, game pie, tomato leaf and a fair whack of quality savoury, malty, cinnamon-tinged French wood. The palate reveals a creamy old vine consistency, immaculate purity, layer upon layer of flavour and a rivetting texture. Blessed with an equilibrium rarely found in many lesser Burgundy labels, there’s a wealth of finely honed, slighty gritty, chalky tannins that counterbalance the rich plummy fruit. The acidity level is adequate to promote liveliness but the overall impression in the mouth is all about a fuller, fatter style of Pinot that works very well in this instance. To complete this appraisal, this 1er finishes with considerable aplomb - plenty of seriously good, resinous tannin and a replay of the sappy plums I’ve alluded to above. Drink now or over the next several years. 92 points. Noice job with this one, Dominique!