2005 Chambertin Clos de Beze

From very old vines that produce a wine of consistent finesse and class year-in, year-out, Gerard Raphet’s three and a half barrels of 2005 Chambertin Clos de Beze offers a remarkably intricate nose of black tea, musk, rose hips, rose petal, fennel, citrus zest, black fruits and smoked meat. Like a tea-smoked, spiced duck drenched in macerated cherries and black raspberries on the palate, this beauty combines creaminess of texture with brightness, concentration with elegance, and a superb interplay of fruit, stone and meat in its long finish. Give it at least a dozen years in the cellar and look for at least another eight to ten years of rewarding performance after that. Jean Raphet officially retired and passed on his domain to his son Gerard with the 2002 vintage, but the latter has been responsible for the vineyards for many years. I last tasted through this cellar a year ago when the 2005s had not been through malo, and was only able to re-taste the following small subset from bottle, which however includes what I have found to be Raphet’s three consistently best appellations. (They continue to sell a significant amount of wine to negociants as well as to do custom cuvees for certain U.S. importers.) A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93