The 2015 Chorey-les-Beaune La Piece du Chapitre, a monopole belonging to the domaine that (alas) is not sold in the United States, is matured in 25% new oak. It has a perfumed nose with darker fruit than the regular village cru. The palate is smooth on the entry thanks to the fleshy tannin. Red cherries mix with blueberry with a smear of marmalade on the finish. It is not the most persistent 2015 in the block, but it is very well crafted and feels persistent in the mouth. In a word - delicious.

The 2014 Chorey les Beaune la Pièce du Chapitre, the two-hectare monopole that was inherited by the domaine in 2001, has a refined and elegant, slightly earthy bouquet with flinty notes developing in the glass. The 20% new oak is nicely integrated with supple tannin, a mixture of black and red fruit with a linear, structured finish that has a certain strictness to it. One of Nathalie Tollot's more reserved offerings?

The 2013 Chorey-les-Beaune la Piéce de Chapitre was fortunately not affected by hail. It has a clean and fresh strawberry winegum and violet-scented bouquet that is nicely defined and pure. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and impressive weight in the mouth. There is plenty of red and black fruit tinged with orange sorbet, the oak seeping through just a little towards the finish. Overall, this displays good substance and should age well.

The 2012 Chorey-les-Beaune Pieces du Chapitre comes from the domaine’s 1.6-hectare monopole located on the northern side of the appellation populated by vines planted in 1950. It has a perfumed, floral bouquet with touches of violets emerging through the haze of black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with a gentle grip on the entry. This is quite a solid wine at the moment with good matiere, then rather than building on those foundations, it eases off right on the savory finish. Fine. This was my second visit to Domaine Tollot-Beaut – ever. The first was circa June 1997, a milestone in my career since it constituted the first winery that I ever visited. As I quipped to Nathalie Tollot on my return some 16 years later, I know a bit more than nothing about wine. Nathalie herself looks about the same age as she did back then, petit with jet-black hair, slightly Mediterranean looking perhaps, probably takes I.D. with her whenever ordering at a bar. She is one of Burgundy’s most personable vignerons, the kind you fancy going out for a beer with after work. Nathalie actually started her tenure back in 1987, five years after Jean-Paul who is married to Anne Gros in Vosne-Romanee and three years prior to Olivier making the trio of current co-proprietors. They farm approximately 23 hectares mainly close to their winery in Chorey-les-Beaune, including several premier crus and three grand crus. Much of their vineyards are planted at a comparatively high density to other growers at around 11,000 vines per hectare, they eschew chemical fertilizers but will spray if absolutely necessary, completely de-stem their crop, skip cold maceration and practice a short cuvaison. I remarked to Nathalie that in Burgundian terms her winery has positively acres of space, to which she replied that she is grateful for the foresight of her ancestors (indeed, Tollot-Beaut was one of the first domaine’s to bottle their own wine back in the 1930s.) After we had tasted through the reds, we returned to the ground floor level to finish with their Corton-Charlemagne. Unfortunately, Nathalie could not find it. “I’m sure it was up here,” she says in similar to fashion to you and I losing our car keys. After five minutes of searching, she gives up and one assumes she later found her Corton-Charlemagne down the back of the sofa. This is a reliable source of quality wines from Chorey-les-Beaune. Occasionally I feel that the level of new oak can be a little too conspicuous. There certainly lend the wines a modern sheen, if not modern to their core. The aromas and flavors at this address might be described as “strident” and some might argue that they lack subtlety. Nathalie feels that the wood just needs time to fully integrate and having tasted mature examples of her wines I can understand her point. The nuance here develops in bottle as those tannins melt away, so do not be afraid to allow them to age. Chorey-les-Beaune and Aloxe-Corton are two appellations that did relatively well in 2012, two that continue to offer great value for money. I would include Tollot-Beaut’s consistent wines within that category. Importer: Importer: Diageo Chateau and Estate Wines (NY) tel. 1 707 738 22 55 (Jonathan Nahrgang). Also available through several merchants in the UK included Justerini & Brooks, Berry Brothers & Rudd and Howard Ripley.