2005 Vosne Romanee

Jean-Yves Bizot emphasizes the tender, gentle side of Pinot, occasionally perhaps too much so for the 100% new oak regimen he employs. The wines are all hand-bottled, barrel-by-barrel (i.e. without assemblage, so treat my notes accordingly) which conserves – among other elements – CO2, permitting minimal dosages of sulfur. His 2005 Vosne-Romanee smells sweetly of blackberry and red currant, comes to the palate polished, clear, bright, light and invigorating with a chewy fruit skin and saline, soy-like savor and minerality, and takes a rather smoky, mossy, meaty, and faintly tart turn in the finish, which may be slightly muted from recent bottling and is marked by a woody, resinous overlay. Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524 1524