97+ The 2012 Charmes-Chambertin Trés Vieilles Vignes from Domaine Roty has to be one of the wines of the vintage this year, as it is pure, profound and utterly complete. The gorgeous nose jumps from the glass in a mix of black cherries, plums, grilled meats, woodsmoke, a very complex base of dark soil tones, a touch of nutskin and cedary wood. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, pure and sappy at the core, with impeccable balance, bottomless depth, fine-grained tannins and stunning length and grip on the still quite youthful finish. This wine is potentially quite opulent in style, but today, this is all beautifully harnessed behind a completely seamless, but substantial structure. A legend in the making!

The Roty 2012 Charmes-Chambertin is astoundingly good, and it has yet to shut down in the cellar. The bouquet reveals a lovely melange of black cherry, plum and rich soil tones that synergize beautifully with the wine's high toast cooperage. On the palate, the wine is carrying quite a bit of puppy fat that makes it deceptively accessible, but it's clear that when the very serious and refined structural chassis hidden behind that youthful precocity begins to open up a decade or so down the line, it will be an even more massive, bottomless wine. What a legacy the late Philippe Roty has left us! - William Kelley

A dense and serious nose displays notes of wood toast, black cherry, spice, earth, game and once again plenty of sauvage character. The toast is also present on the broad-shouldered middle weight plus flavors that abound with palate coating dry extract that also serves to buffer the markedly firm tannic spine on the powerful but not rustic finish where a mild hint of warmth is discernible. This is also noticeably muscular and will likewise require an extended stay in a cool cellar.