2002 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay Les Champans 1er Cru

Full medium red. Enticing aromas of red fruits, minerals, mint and earth. Offers very good sweetness, concentration and breadth, but this firmly tannic, structured wine is beginning to shut down in the bottle. Finishes with subtle length. Incidentally, Villette feels that the '99s were much harder to taste in the year after the bottling, and that the '02s may have more finesse and a better balance for long-term aging. I'd hold off on this until 2010.

Sporting a slightly dark color, the spicy red cherry-scented 2002 Volnay Champans reveals a medium-bodied character loaded with flavorful red currants, raspberries, and cherries. Its firm finish and high-toned style will require moderate patience. Projected maturity: 2007-2014. Importer: Diageo Chateau and Estate Wines Company., New York, NY; tel. (212) 419-1400

Bright, deep red. Black raspberry, black cherry, flowers, licorice and spices on the nose. A step up from the Fremiets in intensity and shape, with the spice character lifting the wine's fruit. This boasts lovely purity and grip, as well as more obvious tannic backbone that calls for at least four or five years of additional bottle aging. Today, this is quite vertical, while the Fremiets is more horizontal.