Lavaux Saint Jacques

Full purple in colour, with a very dark centre, an amazing come hither nose, real weight, and yet also very classy. Concentrated raspberry fruit, hits the high notes, with a little spice behind, and great length that keeps building. Superb.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

Winemaker and general manager, David Croix, has been grumbling that he feels he has the temperament of a grower rather than the deal-making knack of a born negoçiant, so he hasn’t found it easy to fill the cellar in 2012. We also find that tasting with him feels like being in a grower’s cellar, though Camille Giroud only owns a couple of vineyards. There are, nevertheless, one or two really exciting new wines here this year, notably the Volnay Santenots, and the whole cellar is on top form.

The 60-year-old vines did manage two barrels, but the vineyard was very exposed to the freezing air tumbling down the combe. There is a sense of tingling freshness before the weight of the vineyard cuts in. The wine finishes composed, with redcurrant and raspberry fruit. Drink 2021-2027. Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

Barrel-chested Alain Burguet has been one of Gevrey’s most respected vignerons for a quarter of a century. He left school in 1964 to work in the vines and made his first vintage under his own name in 1972. Alain’s muscular physique could be seen in the wines he made in the 1980s, where the tannins were occasionally too firm for the fruit. His style evolved towards a gentler, fruitier style which has been continued by his sons Jean-Luc and Eric since then. Their own vineyards are all located within Gevrey-Chambertin but the range has been supplemented by one or two cuvées from purchased fruit. Eric Burguet was phlegmatic but a little downcast on our visit. The frost was bad enough (taking out 30 percent), but he also lost another 40 percent to mildew. In the end they had to abandon their organic status, just to save anything from the crop. But it was too late for their Vosne-Romanée and Clos de Bèze, of which there is none. They are now under lutte raisonnée, and wonder whether they will ever return to organic. More positively, they do, like almost everyone else, have a decent volume in 2017. The mood of the tasting did not deflect from the quality that has been salvaged by their famously diligent triage processes