2005 Ruchottes Chambertin

Good medium red; seemed to deepen in color with air. Claret-like aromas of smoky redcurrant, graphite and flowers. Silky on entry, then sweet, spicy and floral in the middle, with lovely lift for the vintage. Finishes with substantial tannins and a lingering perfume of rose petal. The Mugneret '05s, not surprisingly, manage to avoid the superripe, almost southern Rhone-like aromas of some wines from this vintage.

From the remaining old vines in the Mugneret’s share of this small, magnificently-situated site, the 2005 Ruchottes-Chambertin smells of violet, black cherry, and displays deep, sweetly-fruited and marrowy richness and polish on the palate, with a hint of cherry stone bitterness and the pungency of cherry skin and ginger. It finishes with intensely sweet fruit, subtle meatiness and persistent florality, but clearly gives only a glimpse of the complexities one would hope it would develop over a 12-20 year rest in a cellar. There will be 125 cases of this wine, still in barrel when I tasted. The Mugneret sisters (I take the liberty of heading this report with what is about to become their official, unified domaine name) have rendered a 2005 collection illustrating the chiseled-precision, complexity, refinement and restraint for which their wines are famous. They were still trying to coax their Bourgogne through malo at the time of my visit incidentally, and it was too gaseous to properly assess (although it showed very promisingly pre-malo). A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93.

Good dark red. Highly aromatic red fruit aromas currently carrying a heavy load of oak (I tasted from a new barrel, but the blend will be 80% new oak). Then sweet, dense and pliant in the mouth, with fat flavors of red fruits and oak spice. Finishes impressively broad, with horizontal tannins. This is explosive on the back end, finishing with noble tannins and impressive length, and yet I miss the mineral lift of the 2004. A sample from an older barrel showed more sap but was very backward and harder to taste.