The timid nose requires aggressively swirling to coax the black cherry, violet, plum, Asian-style tea and spice aromas to reveal themselves. In typical fashion this is notably finer than the Champans with an abundance of almost pungent minerality to the highly energetic and appealingly fresh middle weight flavors that possess excellent length on the overtly austere and restrained finish. Despite the excellent concentration and focused power this remains a wine of refinement and grace that is classic Clos des Ducs in character. Like the Taillepieds in 2012 there is a hint of warmth but there is so much going on here that I don’t believe it will matter in the long run. Note that this brilliant effort will need a very long time to come together and in magnum format I’m not entirely certain that even 20 years of age will be sufficient to see this at its complete apogee. 2032+