This red shows immediate appeal with its pure cherry fruit flavor, backed by strawberry, currant and spice accents. Intense and well-built, yet balanced and harmonious, with a superlong aftertaste echoing the fruit and mineral elements. Best from 2023 through 2045. — B.S.

(90-92) A ripe, pretty and attractively layered nose combines notes of spiced tea and red currant with those of lavender and sandalwood. The agreeably textured medium-bodied flavors possess a relatively open mid-palate that, together with the enveloping finish, should allow this to be approachable young if that's your fruit preference but also reward up to a decade of aging. This is very Chaumes in basic character.

(WA 90-92 points) The 2016 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes was completely destemmed has a tightly wound bouquet, bright red cherry and crushed strawberry fruit, hints of rose petal and bay leaf. With aeration there is just a suggestion of obduracy, remaining linear and more reticent than its siblings. The palate is well balanced with fine tannin. It is not a deep or voluminous Vosne-Romanée, but it is fine-boned with a tightly wound finish that pulls up a little earlier than the other premier crus. Nevertheless, I would still give this 3 to 4 years in bottle to see its potential. - Neal Martin

Jean-Nicolas Méo makes one of the most serious renditions of this often easygoing and facile premier cru, and his 2016 is lovely. It opens in the glass with a nose of smoked duck, dark fruit and spice, while on the palate the wine is supple and open-knit, but endowed with a rare concentration and tension too. This should evolve nicely over two decades.