2005 Domaine Dugat-Py Vosne-Romanée Vieilles Vignes

Dugat’s 2005 Vosne Romanee Vieilles Vignes brings together two parcels with 70-some-year-old vines whose fruit was not destemmed. Move just a few steps to the west or over a wall to the north and you would land in far from the worst portions of Echezeaux and Clos Vougeot, which might go some way toward explaining the quality of this “village” wine. It offers alluring aromas of cumin, coriander, black raspberry, cassis, and iris. Pungently spicy, smoky and intensely-fruited in the mouth, it preserves juicy, fresh clear fruit character, lift, and elegance for all of its doughy substantiality, creaminess of texture, sheer concentration and ripeness. The finish offers both great richness and verve, with gorgeous layers of fruit, spice, flowers, meat and mineral. Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800.

(vendange entier, like the Chambertin)) Full ruby-red. Meaty, high-toned aromas of black raspberry, violet, spices and dark chocolate; very different from the Gevrey samples. Less dense in texture than the Gevrey village wines but perfumed and vibrant, with complex, pure flavors of dark berries, minerals and dark chocolate. The wine's very firm tannins will require some bottle aging. These 75-year-old vines yielded barely 27 hectoliters per hectare in '05, according to Dugat. Awfully good for village wine.