2009 Domaine Sylvain Cathiard Vosne-Romanée Aux Malconsorts 1er Cru

Good medium red. Reticent but highly complex nose combines redcurrant, dried spices, coffee, milk chocolate and earth; smells rich and mellow. Large-scaled and weighty, with huge volume for premier cru. Mocha, graphite and oak notes currently overshadow primary pinot fruits. Finishes tight and rather introverted, with a touch of aggressive austerity to the strong tannins. Cathiard takes the fact that the wine is very closed now as a sign that it will age well, but I wonder if there's enough verve here to outlive the tannins. Still, this wine would appear to need a decade of cellaring.

Very good deep color. Wonderfully high-pitched aromas and flavors of sappy red fruits, Oriental spices, blood orange and bitter chocolate; it's rare to find this sort of perfume in 2009. Then compellingly sweet and sappy on the palate, saturating the mouth with flavor. A large-scaled premier cru that spreads out impressively on the finish, which features substantial but very fine tannins. Does this have the complexity and verve of the outstanding 2008? Cathiard believes this will be good "young and old, but you'll need to forget the 2008, which is a real vin de garde