2005 Gevrey Chambertin Les Combottes

Pale rim, scented and delicate for a Gevrey – but such direct fruit flavours! Only then does the structure start to insinuate itself and demonstrate that in fact it offers a bit of a corset – even slightly inky on the finish. (JR)

The 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Combottes offers intense, bitter-sweet cherry aromatics reminiscent of this year’s Morey 1er Cru, but they are backed by licorice, roasted meat and woody, resinous notes. Full and rich in initial impression on the palate, it displays a rather austere and faintly woody, though undeniably serious and long finish today. Could this simply need more time to recover from bottling? The already rich array of crus at Domaine Dujac has recently been augmented on two fronts. The purchase (along with de Montille) of the Societe Civile du Clos de Thorey (Thomas-Moillard) has brought them a raft of choice parcels including three new grand cru holdings (for a staggering total of eight). Meanwhile, they have expanded their negociant arm (with control over harvest and green harvest a prerequisite) to supplement in particular their volumes of village-level wine. (Those wines – labeled “Dujac Fils & Pere” – are signified in the above listing with “FP”. In fact, due to a legal technicality, the 2005 vintage wines from the properties newly acquired by the domaine – but not subsequent vintages – will also read “Fils & Pere” rather than “Domaine”.) Even with California-trained oenologist Diana Seysses (nee Snowden) joining her husband Jeremy and in-laws Jacques and Alec, and with a new winery (though at the old address) I wonder at how they are able to keep up with the magnitude of their responsibilities. Yet despite so many parcels and vines new to them this year, the results are consistently outstanding and at times astounding. Much of the vinification – increasingly as one goes up the hierarchy of crus – was of whole clusters. Malos finished (finally) by November and the wines were bottle in December and January. Importer: The Sorting Table, Napa, CA; tel.(415) 491 4724

Bright red-ruby. Complex nose offers black raspberry, mocha and meat, plus a mineral austerity. Big, broad and weighty but with excellent precision of flavor. Not at all a sweet style. Finishes backward and medicinal, with firm tannins and a mineral and licorice austerity. Likely to age slowly and well.