2009 Vosne Romanee Les Chaumes

The 2009 Vosne-Romanee Les Chaumes is richer, riper and more open than the 1er, but it lacks some of that wine’s textural finesse. The Chaumes is an exuberant, generous wine that captures the essence of this radiant year. Kirsch, red cherries and hints of oak linger on the finish. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2027. I tasted these wines with Bernard Gros in his underground tasting room, which is part batcave and part piano bar. Towards the end of a long day, a change of pace from the frigid cellars of Burgundy was quite welcome. Bernard Gros harvested on the early side in 2009, which he mostly attributes to the clones he planted beginning in the mid 1980s. The fruit was completely destemmed and yields were around 40 hectoliters per hectare. Cuvaison lasted 10-12 days. After debourbage the wines were racked into new oak barrels. Gros left the wines on their fine lees for 12 months, and did some batonnnage pre-malo. The house style seeks ripeness and textural richness, which every wine I tasted reflected. In his continued search for depth, Gros will sometimes concentrate the wines about 5% or so. All of the 2009s were bottled in February 2011. Gros also showed me all of his grand crus going back to 2006. Notes for those wines will be posted on www.erobertparker.com. Importer: Atherton Imports, Menlo Park, CA; tel. (650) 328-6639