The 2016 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru includes around 30% whole bunch fruit. It has a very complex bouquet, a mixture of red and black fruit, a whiff of sea cave, wet limestone and something from underground (mulch or peat?). The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannin, pure black cherry and blueberry fruit with a taut, quite linear but tensile finish. This is outstanding, a very sophisticated Chapelle-Chambertin in the making with breeding and intellect, all without shortchanging you on fruit.

The 2015 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru has a beautiful bouquet with crushed violet aromas infusing the blueberry and black cherry fruit, hints of blood orange emerging with time in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with a little chewiness on the entry. There is good density and weight here with fresh dark cherries and blackcurrant, though I would like to see more finesse and precision come through on the finish to compete with the exemplars from this vineyard.

The 2014 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru has a noticeable dark colour. There is plenty of dark cherry and black plum fruit on the nose, quite fresh with violet scents developing with aeration, though not a complex bouquet. The palate is medium-bodied with quite fine tannin and well judged acidity. It is a linear Chapelle-Chambertin, a "correct" grand cru with a straightlaced finish that needs just a little more persistence.

The 2013 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru has plenty of lilting dark plum and strawberry fruit on the nose, nicely defined and pure. The palate is medium-bodied with supple coffee-tinged black fruit, the Seguin Moreau oak coming on quite strong toward the finish that slightly obscures the terroir expression. Like some of the other of Drouhin-Laroze's 2013s, last year's offering was showing much better.

The 2012 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru demands coaxing from the glass, unfurling to reveal blackcurrant and fresh strawberry scents, joined by a hint of violet with time. The palate has a good backbone. This is a more masculine take on the vineyard, nicely balanced, linear and taut with fine precision and nuance on the finish. This should age with style. This domaine must possess one of the most enviable portfolios in the Cote de Nuits, with several grand crus to their name scattered across 11.5-hectares of prime vineyard. So I guess one must ask the question why Drouhin-Laroze is not better known? I suppose you could argue that in the past, the wines had an air of commerciality about them, wines that were commendable and enjoyable, yet rarely approached the profundity of say Rousseau or Bachelet. Their intrinsic quality was not in doubt. The trouble is that when you have such a roll call of iconic grand crus to your name, the bar is simply raised. Personally, I have found much pleasure in previous vintages that always seem to show well in barrel. I have always found winemaker Philippe Drouhin to be a conscientious vigneron, usually with his wife Christine by his side, either in the office or pouring wines at tastings. And there is now a gradual changing over to the sixth generation as their son Nicolas and daughter Caroline, gain more involvement in the running of the estate that now includes a negociant arm overseen by Caroline. Tasting through their 2012s, there does remain a slight “heaviness” to the wines that you could align with say, Bernard Dugat, and that does not mean they are inherently inferior – just that it is a perceptible leitmotif that means they rarely contain the finesse or effortlessness of those aforementioned growers. I always come away thinking if that if they just tweaked their practices a little, they could suddenly see their wines capture that sense of magic – perhaps pick a little earlier, extract less and moderate the level of new wood that has always made an impression e.g. reconsider using 100% new oak for all the grand crus. This is an estate to watch. They have always quietly gone about creating very good wines, but it would not take much with those grand crus to see them suddenly elevated to the top league. Importer: available through Diva Beaune in the United States, also Atherton Wine Imports (www.awiwine.com) in California and through Fields, Morris & Verdin in the UK.