Tasted blind at the annual "Burgfest" tasting in Beaune. The 2012 Mazis Chambertin Grand Cru from Faiveley has a beguiling nose with brambly red berry fruit, damp earth, cold flagstone and just a faint smear of marmalade. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, supple tannin matched with assiduous acidity that lends tension and poise. It is quite backward, even compared to other grand cru 2012s, but there is the substance and the breeding here to suggest a seriously long and pleasurable evolution. This is one of the standouts of the Côte de Nuits. Drink 2017-2035. 97 Points
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Full medium red. Rather wild aromas of raspberry, smoky minerals and pungent sandalwood. Then plush, tactile and savory in the mouth, displaying classically dry flavors of strawberry, raspberry and minerals. At once polished and youthfully clenched, this distinctly saline, highly concentrated wine finishes with almost painful length and an impression of weightlessness. Less sweet in the early going than Faiveley's stunning Clos de Bèze but showing much more verve and fruit intensity than a barrel sample did in November of 2013. (Drink between 2024-2038). 94+ Points
