Clos-de-Beze

Glowing purple with an impressive density of fruit, though the detail is yet to emerge. Super-stylish, very graceful, yet the weight of fruit builds gloriously on the palate to a very noble finish with great persistence. It is all about the elegance. Superb. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

The 2013 harvest is the latest ever recorded at Burguet, starting 9th October, in the cold more than the rain – there was even some frost one morning. They have three separate sorting stations, though rot varied by sector. Vinification was normal, a long time in tank but a gentle approach. The 2013 is particularly, and consistently, successful chez Burguet.

Fine mid-purple, this again starts discreetly but then swells magically on the palate to a very long, graceful, expansive finish. Wherever we have tasted it, Clos de Bèze has been very true to itself this year.

This year Jean-Luc and Eric Burguet purchased some additional vineyards from another member of the family: an additional 0.75ha each in the two village Gevrey cuvées. We may also get a small allocation of Gevrey-Chambertin, Champeaux, 1er Cru and a new wine, Gevrey-Chambertin, Lavaux St Jacques, 1er Cru. They found that 2014 produced decent yields, with picking beginning on 18th September.

This Grand Cru Chambertin Clos de Bèze  shows agreeably fresh, layered and cool wild red berry fruit aromas that are liberally laced with a sauvage character. There is good richness and plenty of volume to the tautly muscled medium weight plus flavors that possess a subtle minerality that continues onto the impressively long finish. Like several wines in the range this is not especially complex at present but my projected range offers the benefit of the doubt that much more will develop with time in bottle.

Eric and Jean-Luc Burguet succinctly described 2012 as a "difficult vintage that was not easy to manage. We lost a lot of the potential crop because of a poor flowering and then at the time of the harvest we lost more due to a careful sorting process. On the plus side the fruit was concentrated and the vinifications were able to pull out this material into the wine with almost no help from us. As a result the 2012s are quite fleshy and generous with seductive mouth feels that should allow the wines to be very popular as they will be easy to appreciate. For us, 2012 is not a great vintage but it is an attractive one all the same." My take on the Burguet 2012s is pretty much spot on with how the brothers feel about their wines, which is to say that the quality is consistent with the general level of the vintage. The 2012s will be bottled without fining or filtration.
91-93/100 Allen Meadows - burghound.com - issue 53 - Jan 2014

Rich and explosive to the core, Groffier's 2011 Chambertin Clos de Bèze hits the palate with huge dark blue/purplish fruit, violets, menthol and cloves. Even with all of the intensity, power and voluptuousness, my preference is to drink the Groffier Burgundies sooner rather than later. The inclusion of 50% whole clusters adds complexity and dimension. This is an especially bold, fruit-driven Bèze, but it all works.
Antonio Galloni - Vinous, November 2013

Brilliant purple, very dense, with a wealth of concentrated red fruit on the nose, this starts quietly then builds enormously to the back of the palate. It’s suave and delicious, with a classical, peacock's tail finish fanning out at the back.

Erwan Faiveley believes that 2014 would be regarded as a great vintage – if only 2015 had not come along to trump it. He feels that the changes which have taken place in the cellar since 2007 have had a discernible effect on the quality of Faiveley wines, while similar qualitative changes in the vineyard are only now bearing fruit. Here, balanced but restricted yields are the key.

A touch of oak shows alongside an impressive density of fruit, very opulent, suave and dense: backward of course, yet still offering a huge mouthful of glossy dark fruit. This is a remarkably supple wine, which is what distinguishes Clos-de-Bèze from Chambertin. Rich, dark fruit swells amazingly on the palate towards the finely balanced finish. A glorious wine waiting to evolve.
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

Burgundy 2012 En Primeur - Staff Favourite
This is all about power. Dense black fruit mingles with the oak. Everything perfectly balanced and will need at least15 years of cellaring. A wow wine.
Fergus Stewart, Fine Wine

A very beautiful, stylish colour and an extremely graceful perfume. This is perfectly proportioned and boasts an amazingly long finish, with the exquisite soft red fruit perfume refusing to die away.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

The new era at Faiveley is now into its sixth vintage and the house style, which allows the fruit to express itself in a very seductive manner while enhancing the individual qualities of each terroir, has been safely established. Now the management is concentrating on reinforcing their supplybase with some crafty contracts and vineyard purchases in both Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits. We may be able to offer more cuvées in the future, and though opportunities are clearly limited by the 2012 vintage circumstances, we have been well looked after this year.

Rich full purple. An explosive nose of weight and majesty, everything you would hope for. Chassin barrel shows again, marvellous mid palate fruit, then a wonderful long finish based around a complex basket of fruit, superb texture, seamless, and enormously long. Again there is a wonderful, fresh undercurrent which comes from picking at the right time. Bravo. Throughout this wine shows a beautiful grain of finesse, with silky tannins all the way through.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Buying Director

A glowing deep purple, an initial barrel toast soon departs and fruit rushes in. There is a great sense of harmony, enhanced by ultra-concentrated cherries, flamboyant at the front, rich through the middle, perfumed and timeless at the back. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

Faiveley use three picking teams. Two started in the white wine vineyards on 28th September and were finished in four days. Then it was all hands to the red grapes. In general the harvest came in healthily, the hard work all year round in the vineyards paying dividends. We were once again very impressed.

This was sufficiently reduced to hide everything but the wood though its influence on the palate was considerably less if not invisible. The rich, minerally and utterly delicious medium-bodied flavors possess a subtle minerality that continues onto the mouth coating finish where the wood resurfaces. I suspect that this reasonably well-balanced effort will always display some wood influence but not enough to affect the finishing texture.
Allen Meadows - burghound.com - May 2011

Imperial purple robe. The nose stands up to be counted, with some intense raspberry notes. Statuesque but light on its feet, easily in balance with the final tannins.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director

Maison Roche de Bellene Production has recently moved to a new facility on the outskirts of Beaune, which is making life much easier for the Roche de Bellene team. The philosophy stays the same: work with excellent grape sources and get the wines out into the market at competitive prices. The reds have had an excellent following for many a year now, while recently the whites have shown the same impressive price to quality ratio that makes this such a good address.

Beautiful, graceful pink-purple colour and a sublimely seductive bouquet. An amazingly graceful expression, with beautiful refined raspberry fruit, a lovely pepperiness from the stems but the fruit returns in an exceptionally persistent finish. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

This is our first vintage with Domaine Bart, who makes wines of lovely understated grace and elegance. They had decent yields in 2013, just 10% below a full crop. Overall they have good colour and acidity with a fresh and cheerful fruit.

The beautiful purple colour demonstrates the majesty of this wine. A regal nose of fine, black fruit, scented blackcurrant and cassis follows, yet with elegance and restraint. There is a lovely coolness to the fruit, introverted but with wonderful potential. A glorious harmony throughout, and a sinuous strength with rich, velvety tannins. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer