2005 Morey St Denis En la Rue de Vergy

CS Sweet, lively, quite smooth. Rich, very different from Lignier Michelot's other village wines. Well done! Morey character. Great stuff. (JR)

A 2005 Morey-St.-Denis En la Rue de Vergy (from high above the village) offers aromas of pungent smoked meat and juniper berry along with distilled black raspberry. A fleshy, ripely-fruited palate mingles confiture-like suggestions of advanced ripeness with fresh, faintly tart fruit elements. This exhibits plenty of stuffing and fine tannins and finishes with spice, resin and nicely concentrated sweet fruit. I don’t envision a need to wait more than a few years to enjoy it. Virgile Lignier elected not to filter his 2005s, but I suspected that a couple of them were suffering slightly from their very recent bottling. Also recommended: 2005 Bourgogne ($25.00; 86), 2005 Chambolle-Musigny ($50.00;86+?), 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin ($53.00; 86+?). Various Importers. A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet; fax 011- 333-80-24-29-70.

(at 13.4% natural alcohol, this was Lignier's ripest parcel in 2005) Bright ruby-red. Superripe aromas of kirsch and blackberry; slightly liqueur-like but not porty. Sweet, fat and stuffed with fruit; round, rich and full and not at all over the top. Finishes with broad tannins and very good palate coverage. Juicy acids extend the flavors of black raspberry, tobacco, chocolate and spices. "This was good from the start," notes Lignier. (In comparison, the musky, briary village Morey was leaner and a tad peppery, and a bit dusty and dry on the back, offering 86-88 potential.)