The 2016 Champeaux had not yet been assembled in tank and was still in cask, but was due for a racking the week after my visit and was ready to an aeration. The nose was a touch reduced, but with some swirling, it blossomed beautifully to reveal a complex aromatic constellation of sappy cassis and dark berries, roasted meats, espresso, dark soil tones, plenty of smokiness and a nice framing of nutty new oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and rock solid at the core, with excellent transparency, fine-grained tannins and excellent backend energy on the focused and complex finish. A superb example of Champeaux in the making.

As was the case from barrel, there is still enough reduction to push the underlying fruit to the background. I decanted the wine and allowed it to sit for an hour and while that helped significantly, it still wasn't enough to completely dissipate the funk. I would underscore though that in this case, the reduction isn't annoying so much as it mutes, rather than dominates, the fruit. Otherwise, there is a lovely sense of underlying tension to the mineral-infused flavors that are underpinned by firm and dusty tannins, all wrapped in a focused, linear and balanced finish. Champeaux can be relatively bold and frank though the 2016 Harmand version is really quite refined with good minerality. Moreover, in contrast to many 2016s today, the finish is not particularly austere and overall, this could be enjoyed now provided you give it some air first.