2022 Bouchard Pere & Fils - Chambertin Clos de Beze (750ml)

Bouchard Père & Fils has been one of Burgundy's leading merchant houses since Michel Bouchard founded it in Beaune in 1731. Over nine generations the firm built an estate of over 130 hectares, including some of the region's most celebrated grand cru holdings, and since 1995 it has been owned by the Henriot family of Champagne. Chief winemaker Frédéric Weber oversees both the estate's own vines and grapes purchased under long-standing growing agreements.

Bouchard's Chambertin-Clos de Bèze comes from a small 0.47-hectare parcel just below the treeline, a bottling the house has produced for many years, though this proved to be a farewell vintage for the cuvée. As with the neighboring Chambertin, Frédéric Weber personally chooses the picking date, and the wine is raised in French oak with a generous share of new barrels.

The 2022 wafts from the glass with cherries, dark berries, incense, and baking spice, more flamboyant on the nose than Bouchard's Chambertin. The palate is full-bodied, rich, and layered, with a broad attack that opens into a deep, enveloping mid-palate framed by powdery tannins and lively acidity. It closes on a long, saline finish, a dense and luxurious wine that should reward patient cellaring for decades.