The 2019 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru is very promising indeed, mingling scents of blood orange, wild berries and plums with notions of exotic spices, wilted rose petals, row cocoa and loamy soil. Full-bodied, velvety and layered, it's deep and multidimensional, with a concentrated, elegantly fleshy core, lively acids, largely concealed tannins and a precise, perfumed finish.

Jacques Desvauges's first vintage at the Domaine des Lambrays was marked by a number of new initiatives. Organic farming required custom-made tractors capable of traversing the clos's steep upper slopes, and mechanical cultivation was necessarily complemented by plenty of manual work with the "pioche" (a task that I can personally attest is arduous). Yields were low, at some 15 hectoliters per hectare in the clos itself, and Desvauges vinified parcel by parcel, getting to know his charge. The results are very fine indeed, and I'm sure they auger well for the future of this important estate. I'll be reporting in more detail on the domaine's evolution in the near future.

| William Kelley