2011 Vosne Romanee Les Malconsorts Christiane

(100% vendange entier; 40% new oak): Good deep red. Much more backward and medicinal on the nose than the "regular" Malconsorts, offering scents of menthol, mint, licorice, violet and black pepper lifted by a piquant whiff of orange peel. Then brooding and dominated by its structure in the mouth, offer blueberry and blackberry flavors lifted by blood orange. Terrific cut and energy here, and even suaver than the previous wine. Finishes very spicy and impressively long, with serious fine-grained tannins starting drier than those of the Malconsorts but gaining sweetness as the wine opens in the glass. Both this wine and the first Malconsorts got a cold soak that lasted for five days. They were harvested on the same day, vinified entirely with their stems, and aged in the same percentage of new oak. The only difference is the location of the vines: The Cristiane comes from an enclave that on the map appears to be more La Tache than Malconsorts.