Maison Bertrand Ambroise Cotes de Nuits Villages, Burgundy, France

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The 2012 Cote de Nuits Villages is light and fresh on the nose with lifted raspberry and fresh strawberry scents, hints of sage emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied with chewy tannins on the entry. This feels a little mealy in the mouth compared to the Bourgogne Pinot Noir, while the finish is a tad short. Drink now-2016. Following on from his 2011s, I tasted Bertrand’s bottled 2012s that were presented in London. I preferred these to last year’s crop, the wines showing a little more panache and delineation, although I would still prefer to see Bertrand achieve greater terroir expression. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083 and through Charles Taylor Wines (UK)

The 2011 Cote de Nuits Villages has a simple crushed strawberry and grass clipping-scented bouquet that needs to show more vigor. The palate is better with sweet dark cherry fruit tinged with soy, but it is very simple and to be frank, rather labored. Drink now. I have regularly tasted the wines from Maison Ambroise since I commenced the raft of Burgundy tastings in London. Bertrand Ambroise took over the running of the ancient Primeaux-Prissey- based negociant in 1987, and whenever I have met him, he seems to be a conscientious vigneron that cares deeply for his wine. The tenets here are all admirable: organic viticulture, handpicked fruit, rigorous sorting, minimal use of sulphur and so forth. But – and it is a big “but” – I have consistently found the wines to be smothered in superfluous new oak and at a time when many growers are generally reconsidering, and in many cases retreating from, its usage. Tasting through their 2011s seemed to say more about the cooperage than the individuality of the terroirs. Here, 100% new oak is used for both the premier and grand cru wines and it rendered them uniform and even a little passe. There is clearly high quality fruit here and there is also a keen focus upon creating the best wines possible. However, I have always felt that if Ambroise could dial down that new oak (not eradicate it completely) to a level commensurate with the fruit concentration in each cuvee, they would reveal far more personality. Still, there are some good wines to be found such as the Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Vaucrains and a respectable Corton-Rognets. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083

In 2008, Ambroise essayed only a single Bourgogne rouge bottling – excluding his older vines – which I found slightly stewed and uninspiring, but his 2008 Cotes de Nuits-Villages – while featuring low-toned and lightly cooked blackberry and beetroot – also offers attractively toasted nut accents; a sufficient sense of primary juiciness to assuage its slight finishing chew of tannins; and a salinity to stimulate salivation. I would plan on serving it over the next 4-5 years. Bertrand Ambroise picked late and captured impressively ripe material in 2008, though the strident side of the vintage is sometimes still in evidence in the resultant wines, and not always comfortably married with the ambitious extraction and high quotient of new wood that characterize his regimen. (For further details concerning Ambroise’s methods, consult my report in issue 171.) I did not, regrettably, have chance to taste any of Ambroise’s 2007s, which he characterizes, predictably, as having been much more open early-on than his 2008s and as for the most part being ideal to drink young.Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083