2005 Chambolle Musigny

Coming from the Les Bussieres vineyard on the Morey-St.-Denis line, Raphet’s 2005 Chambolle-Musigny offers an alluring nose of high-toned red fruits and iris. Silky in texture and insistently bright, a mouthful of seedy pomegranate and red raspberry tinged with fennel and orange rind leads to a luscious finish of fresh fruit underlain by subtle suggestions of roasted meats, wet stones and fruit pits. This wine became richer in texture and grew in the glass after an hour, with sweet cherry suggestions and subtle hints of caramel emerging. 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