(BH95-97 points) A discreet application of wood does not reduce the considerable appeal of the ripe, pure and airy nose with its broad mélange of wild red berry fruit liqueur, earth, spice, violets and a hint of animale. The broad-shouldered flavors possess superb mid-palate concentration that enrobes the buried but still quite firm tannins while culminating in a beautifully balanced, muscular and explosively long finish. This is also very clearly built to age yet like the Clos St. Denis, there is so much sap that this could be drunk now with pleasure. A 'wow' wine.

Tasted blind at the Burgundy 2011 horizontal tasting in Beaune. Laurent Ponsot’s Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes '11 is reticent at first and demands coaxing, although it repays the patient imbiber with lively floral scents that are entwined with strawberry pastilles and cranberry. The palate is medium-bodied with a fleshy and almost corpulent entry, at least for a 2011 Côte de Nuits. There is admirable depth here with fleshy strawberry and red cherry notes infused with fennel and sage. It lingers for a very long time, which is quite unusual for this vintage. While it needs another few years to completely coalesce, it will be worth the wait. - Neal Martin