2005 Morey St Denis Les Millandes

A completely different aromatic profile as this is riper still yet very fresh with spiced plum and mocha notes set off against obvious stone and black raspberry liqueur nuances that continue onto the big-boned and notably robust flavors that are also very ripe in the mouth but display no traces of heaviness. This is a powerful and dramatic wine underpinned by ample buried tannins and excellent length if not elegance or refinement.

Sweet and quite concentrated and with definite Morey savour. This should come right eventually though the tannins are rather like sandpaper on the palate at present. (JR)

The 2005 Morey-St.-Denis Les Millandes smells of roasting game, smoked pork, sandalwood, resin and vanilla, fills the mouth with meat and distilled berries, and crescendos to an intense finish of roasted meats as well as vanilla-, salt- and brown spice-accented red raspberry distillate. Less polished, sweetly-fruited or subtly complex than Serafin’s Fonteny, this wine impresses above all with its sheer tenacity. Also recommended: 2005 Bourgogne ($20.00; 86); 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin ($28.00; 86). It seems fitting that the wines of Serafin – who trained as a carpenter – would be surrounded by new wood. For all of their intense fruit (heightened by a week’s pre-fermentative cold soaking), there is a certain stylistic stiffness which, taken together with the natural concentration and structure of the vintage, suggests one would do well to wait six or eight years before pulling any corks. Serafin – who likens them to more concentrated, corseted cousins of his 1999s -- does not demur. He also seemed happy to note that he had managed to keep this year’s collection under 14% alcohol. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083.