Allen Meadows - Score: 94 (2010 January)

By contrast to the Clos St. Jacques and the Bèze, the Cham has already eaten its wood which allows free rein for the spicy, pure, elegant and restrained earthy red pinot fruit with animale hints and ample mineral notes to dissolve seamlessly into dusty, textured, precise and palate staining big-bodied flavors that are exceptionally tight on the linear but hugely long finish. At present, the Bèze appears to have slightly better underlying material but we'll see in time as both are sensational plus the Cham has a long demonstrated ability to add weight in bottle.