While the increments to which I refer are small they are nonetheless noticeable as this is aromatically slightly fresher, more elegant and more complex all at once. The highly expressive nose is gorgeously layered, spicy and cool with its ultra-pure dark pinot fruit, plum, cassis and wet stone scents. The medium weight flavors are impressively rich but there is a palpable sense of underlying tension and energy that make this a pleasure to taste. Moreover the borderline pungent minerality adds more lift, particularly on the overtly austere, linear, focused and hugely persistent finish. As good as the Brûlées is, and make no mistake it is terrific, this just offers another level of class and refinement.

The 2011 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts is a tightly wound young wine, unfurling in the glass with scents of wild berries, smoked meats, exotic spices, orange rind and plums. Medium to full-bodied, deep and coiled, it's elegantly muscular, with huge reserves of concentration, lively acids and powdery tannins. Even if it's already very impressive today, this really needs a decade's patience. - William Kelley