2005 Nuits St Georges Villages

The Arnoux 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges smells of cherry distillate, black raspberry and meat juices, displays satsifyingly deep meatiness and ripe black fruits on the palate though with firm tannins and perhaps wanting a bit for distinctive personality, and finishes with restraint and a touch of bitterness. Also recommended: 2005 Bourgogne (85). Pascal Lachaux (the late Robert Arnoux’s son-in-law, who has been in charge here now for nearly two decades) had just bottled his 2005 collection – vinified in his superb, recently-completed, gravity-fed facilities – when I visited. Lachaux compares the proper watchword of the winemaker in a vintage with Pinot as healthy and naturally-concentrated as in 2005, to that of a chef confronted with a perfect piece of fish: restraint. That also describes the results he has achieved in bottle, although allowance should be made for the possibility that the expression of certain wines was restrained by their recent bottling. mporter: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990.