The 2019 Clos Saint-Denis Grand Cru is the king of the cellar chez Charlopin, as is often the case. Wafting from the glass with aromas of sweet red berries, rose petals and plums mingled with hints of warm spices and loamy soil, it's full-bodied, rich and gourmand, with powdery tannins and lively acids, displaying an elegantly muscular profile and concluding with a long, lusty finish.

The 2015 Clos Saint-Denis Grand Cru, the first vineyard that Philippe purchased back in 1983, includes 30% whole bunch fruit this year, and it took a few minutes to really unfold in the glass. Fortunately it repaid patience with attractive mulberry and blackberry scents infused with cold stone and blood orange notes that are very detailed. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp acidity, cohesive with a bold and structured, saline finish. I like the persistence here although it will need several years to really reach its drinking plateau.

The 2013 Clos Saint Denis Grand Cru has a rather meaty bouquet compared to others that I tasted: introspective black fruit that needs encouragement from the glass. The palate is carrying a lot of vanillary new oak that comes across too strongly on the dense finish that is denied the precision and charm of its peers and as a consequence this just feels a little “forced."