2007 Clos de la Roche, Grand Cru, Olivier Bernstein

Clos de la Roche is perhaps the most stylish of the four Bernstein Grands Cru Burgundies. This is very tightly knit with waves of red berry fruit flavours crossing the palate. Not as powerful as the Bonnes Mares or Mazis-Chambertin but a wine of exceptional detail and finesse.
(Jasper Morris MW, BBR Buyer)Olivier Bernstein

In Clos de la Roche the wood is more discreet if not absent and allows the primarily red berry fruit nose to have center stage. The textured, minerally and concentrated flavors are beautifully focused if not as big and broad as those of the Bonnes Mares yet despite the difference in size, this is every bit as powerful and driving. The primary difference between the two wines is one of depth and the Clos de la Roche cannot match the gorgeous complexity and length. Still, this is a lovely effort that should repay up to a decade of cellaring.
(Allen Meadows, burghound.com, Issue 33, Jan 2009)

Clos de la Roche shows a crimson, crystal clear colour and quite a haunting nose. Great sweet palate hit at first. Juicy red cherry fruit. Very charming with quite a bit of grandeur. Lots of very, very fine tannins. Very racy, like taffeta. Strong and cracking texture. Well done and very clean.

Olivier Bernstein is a new name but one that is unlikely to be overlooked for long. This self-styled 'micro négociant' doesn't bother with wines as lowly as those labelled Bourgogne or with a simple village name. He produces only six premiers crus (two of them white) and four grands crus, helped substantially by Richard Seguin of Gevrey-Chambertin, who, as part of the same family as own Domaine Dugat-Py, has access to some superb vineyards, many of them with 70-year-old vines. Born in Touraine into a family of music publishers, Bernstein studied viticulture and oenology in Beaune and claims particular inspiration while working briefly with the late Henri Jayer in 2002. This initially led him to acquire and renovate Mas de la Dévèze in Roussillon, where he is based (to judge from his car licence plate), but he now spends much of his time on the six-hour journey between Tautavel and the modest cellar rented from Seguin in a Gevrey backstreet.
(Jancis Robinson, New brooms in Burgundy, jancisrobinson.com, Jan 09)