Olivier Bernstein Cellar Tasting

• 2008 Olivier Bernstein Gevrey-Chambertin Villages

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin

  All fruit on the nose, both red and black fruit, which continues on to the palate. Spice seems mostly from oak. Moderate length and nuance, but really impressive this young for this level. 100% new oak from vines approximately 50 years old in the Villages part of Clos Prieur downslope from Mazis.

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• 2008 Olivier Bernstein Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  Dark fruit aromatics continue onto the palate. Dark spice comes out in middle, this already comes across nicely balanced. Lots of power on the end.

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• 2008 Olivier Bernstein Mazis-Chambertin

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Lots of big fruit, both red and black, with great spice. Wine comes across as completely seamless and integrated, amazingly at this youn point in its life. Starts off very elegant and pretty with some good floral aspects. Ends with more power, emphasizing dense fruit. Really special wine, better than I remember from when I tasted in the spring.

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In 2009 Olivier says that almost all cuvees were approximately 40% whole cluster fermentation. Plan is to bottle fairly early to keep as much freshness as possible.

• 2009 Olivier Bernstein Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Lavrottes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru

  Barrel tasting. Lots of spice, both from oak and the underlying fruit. Very attractive and enticing aromatics. Middle and end show quite a bit of tannins and the oak is a bit prominent. Finish returns nicely back to fruit and spice.

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• 2009 Olivier Bernstein Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Champeaux

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  Barrel tasting. For me, a big step up from the Chambolle Lavrottes in that it came across more balanced already. Also big and highly structured, this is showing lots of meaty Gevrey character at this young stage in its development.

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• 2009 Olivier Bernstein Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  Barrel tasting. Really impressive combination of red and black fruit. Today the fruit is big and fruit with lots of texture. very long and energetic finish.

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• 2009 Olivier Bernstein Charmes-Chambertin

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Barrel tasting. Also lots of red and black fruit, but this showcases the spice as much as the fruit. Great balance of tannins, acids and fruit, this comes across as a Grand Cru that will be accessible young.

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• 2009 Olivier Bernstein Clos Vougeot

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru

  Barrel tasting. One of the more fruit-driven wines in the lineup. Lush and dense, also showing nice cocoa and vanilla spice, a good part of which is from oak. Like almost everybody producing wine in Clos Vougeot, Olivier takes pride in his terroir, which he says is from the 3rd grower from the wall across from Grands-Echezeaux, which puts it somewhere in the southwest part of the vineyard, which he says is also around the middle of the slope.

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• 2009 Olivier Bernstein Clos de la Roche

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru

  Barrel tasting. A bit more red fruit on nose with lots of floral character, then blacker cherry on the palate. Perhaps the most pronounced spice profile in the lineup. This really showed great combinations of fruit and lots of minerality. Whole cluster seemed to make the greatest contribution in this wine. Lots of energy and power on long finish. This will be a long-term hold with excellent potential.

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• 2009 Olivier Bernstein Bonnes Mares

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

  Barrel tasting. Lots of CO2 today so I found this very difficult to fairly assess.

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• 2009 Olivier Bernstein Mazis-Chambertin

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Barrel tasting. Huge, gorgeous lack fruit on nose and palate. Great floral aromatics. Fruit here is just so pure and generous, combined with incredibly silky sweet tannins. This is a step-up from the 2008 Mazis, which I thought to be incredibly impressive. This is a big, bulky masculine wine with a few sharp elbows today but should be exceptional in the future.

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• 2009 Olivier Bernstein Chambertin-Clos de Bèze

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru

  Barrel tasting. Powerful dense fruit with great spice, interestingly spice that was almost more Vosne to me than Gevrey. But this is a gorgeous hedonistic wine showing great power and sexy charm. I think it at the same level as the Mazis, making it one of his two top cuvees for the vintage. My more experienced colleagues thought this even better than the Mazis.

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• 2009 Olivier Bernstein Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs-Gain

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Barrel tasting. Showed the lush forward fruit very characteristic of white Burgundy in this vintage. Perhaps showing a bit more oak that needs to be integrate than i'd prefer, but obviously still so young.

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• 2009 Olivier Bernstein Corton-Charlemagne

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

  Barrel tasting. Very impressive floral and spicy aromatics. This is a wine I could enjoy smelling all evening. Fruit is charming and lush and ripe, also characteristic of 2009 white Burgundy, but only showed moderate nuance on finish today.

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