Gevrey Bel Air, Domaine Taupenot-Merme 2015

A fresh, ripe and very Gevrey nose reflects plenty of earth, sauvage and humus characters on the dark currant and softly floral aromas. There is a lovely sense of underlying tension and minerality to the dusty, precise and sleekly muscular flavors that culminate in a notably firm but not especially austere or backward finale. This should reward up to 10 years of cellaring yet be approachable after 5 or so.

The 2015 Taupenot-Merme Gevrey “Bel Air” is a bit more reserved in personality than the lovely La Riotte, but it too shares excellent depth at the core and a suave structural chassis and will be a superb wine with sufficient bottle age. The bouquet delivers a fine blend of red and black cherries, a complex base of dark minerality, mustard seed, a touch of gamebird, cedar and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and impressively tangy, with a sappy core, fine focus and grip and a long, ripely tannic and refined finish. (Drink between 2022-2060)