The 2016 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Combe d’Orveau was reduced from eight or nine barrels to just a couple this year due to frost. The bouquet tends toward black rather than red fruit, touches of orange blossom developing with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, quite linear and strict with a grainy textured, even tobacco-tinged finish that lingers nicely in the mouth. Though I have a preference for last year's 2015, this is still a decent wine in a difficult, traumatic vintage.

The 2015 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru La Combe d'Orveau has raspberry coulis, bilberry, sous-bois and cedar aromas that gently unfold in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with a gentle grip on the entry, a keen thread of acidity, a little saline with a conservative, quite structured finish that just needs a little more persistence on the aftertaste. This may develop after racking, so I look forward to tasting this after bottling.

Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2014 tasting, the 2014 Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Combe d'Orveau from Taupenot-Merme has a more understated bouquet than Groffier's 2014 Les Haut Doix, perhaps more Morey-Saint-Denis in style, yet it is nicely focused and fresh and delivers ample mineralité. The palate is very well balanced with good substance, sappy black fruit laced with spice and a very dense but poised finish that feels primal and backwards now but will hopefully age with style. This surpasses my estimation from barrel, hence the higher score. Tasted September 2017.

Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting in Beaune, the 2013 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru La Combe d'Orveau has a well-defined, fresh and focused bouquet with red cherries, wild strawberry and mineral scents that gain intensity in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, quite supple tannin. Vibrant, quite generous with good backbone. This is a 2013 Chambolle with good aging potential. There is a little gruffness towards the finish -- that will go with time. Tasted September 2016