2009 Clos de la Roche

Very deep crimson. Rocky indeed. Most impressive. Very firm indeed and most minerally and impressive. Chewy end. Wait. (JR)

The 2009 Clos de la Roche sits on the razors’ edge of opulence. Here the profile gravitates towards the black end of the spectrum. Leather, licorice and sweet spices add complexity and dimension as the wine fills out its broad-shouldered frame. Elegance takes a back seat to sheer power and muscle here. It will be interesting to see how much, if at all, bottle age might be able to tame some of the wine’s more virile leanings. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2039. This was my first opportunity to taste the 2009s from Domaine Leroy in bottle. Lalou Bize-Leroy was among the first, if not the first, to bottle her 2009s, so she naturally wanted to give the wines some time to recover before showing them. The wines are stunning. Readers who have an opportunity to taste them should not hesitate. As always, the style is one of textural richness and depth, but the2009s appear to have excellent underlying material as well. The attention to every detail at the Domaine is quite evident in these thrilling wines. My visit ended with a sample of the 2010 Chambertin from barrel. Why not go straight to the top? If that wine is representative of the year, Leroy fans will have another superb vintage to look forward to, although yields will be lower than the already minuscule production. Importer: Martine’s Wines. Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-040

The 2009 Clos de la Roche sits on the razors’ edge of opulence. Here the profile gravitates towards the black end of the spectrum. Leather, licorice and sweet spices add complexity and dimension as the wine fills out its broad-shouldered frame. Elegance takes a back seat to sheer power and muscle here. It will be interesting to see how much, if at all, bottle age might be able to tame some of the wine’s more virile leanings. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2039. Sep 2011, www.robertparker.com