93+ The 2011 Champeaux had been bottled a bit earlier than the Lavaux St. Jacques and was a bit more recovered from the mise and showing all of the potential that was evident from the barrel sample I tasted in November. The deep and very classy nose offers up a superb blend of black cherries, sweet dark berries, black minerality, mustard seed, raw cocoa and a stylish base of cedary wood. On the palate the wine is deep, pure, full-bodied and beautifully transparent, with an excellent, sappy core, outstanding precision and a very long, ripely tannic and tangy finish. A great bottle of premier cru in the making!

As is usually the case chez Harmand, this is the most elegant wine in the range with its cool, restrained and pure nose of both red and dark pinot fruit, wet stone and hints of forest floor. There is a wonderful sense of underlying tension and plenty of punch to the mineral-driven, equally pure and refined flavors where the refinement is enhanced by the fine grain of the supporting tannins. This is a lovely effort and textbook Champeaux with its finesse and cool minerality on the ever-so-slightly austere finish. If this can add complexity in bottle my score may be too conservative.