2005 Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair Vosne-Romanée Reignots 1er Cru

Good deep red-ruby. Sappy plum and redcurrant aromas complicated by tobacco and minerals. A step up in sweetness, concentration and floral lift from the Chaumes, this one boasts palate-staining redcurrant, leather and mineral flavors and a powerful impression of extract, not to mention a compelling sappiness for the vintage. Finishes dry and classic, with superb punch. "These vines always produce very small bunches," notes Liger-Belair. A decade of aging may bring an even higher score.

Smoky, fine, more refined than the Clos du Château. Spiky. Attitude. Wait! Flirtatious underneath. (JR)

From vines (some 80 years old) just above their monopole La Romanee, the Liger Belairs’ 2005 Vosne-Romanee Les Reignots displays vintage-typical notes of black raspberry and blackberry, exotic spices, mocha, vanilla, and a decidedly strong gamey character for a wine so young (but which Liger-Belair seeks to assure me is a passing reductive phase). Savory soy and salty, stony mineral notes add to the undeniably complex impression made by this bright, elegant, texturally spare Pinot, and there are fascinating lingering notes of floral perfume, new wood, forest floor and passing woodland creatures. When best to drink this and where it is headed, I cannot guess. But in the interest of full disclosure I should note that some of my more illustrious colleagues gave this very high marks, at least before bottling. Young Louis-Michel Liger-Belair – who considers himself a protege of the late Henri Jayer – has ambitious plans, and soon he will incorporate more of the family’s property (over which he only recently began assuming control – this was the last vintage in which wine was delivered to Bouchard on contract) and inaugurate a new negociant side of the business. Malos were very early, which Liger-Belair accepts as routine. He virtually eschews pigeage. “I try to avoid much extraction,” he says, “and in a year like 2005, it’s easy to extract too much.” But he has no compunction about a ten day cold soak nor about the lavish (100%) application of new barrels, which seemed to me a bit much for these wines. They had been in bottle around three weeks when I tasted, and despite the fact that they were never pumped, they struck me as being somewhat under the influence. Various Importers. A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet; fax 011-333-80-24-29-70.