2005 Maison Joseph Drouhin Chorey-lès-Beaune

The Drouhin 2005 Chorey-les-Beaune offers a fetching nose of high-toned cherry, almond, nutmeg, and cinnamon. The purity, delicacy and penetration of which wines from the unassumingly flat yet almost magically well-drained vineyards of Chorey are capable represent a special delight, and one will seldom encounter a better example. Bright and refreshing on the palate, light and lithe but by no means skimping on flavor concentration, this doles out abundant sweet fruit accented by cherry pit, tart fruit skin, and invigorating salty mineral notes. It represents an amazing value in today’s high-priced Burgundy market that one could only be grateful to be offered as a glass pour or as “Pinot 101.” These 2005s were bottled around two months earlier than usual, says Frederic Drouhin, to retain freshness. (Long-time oenologue Laurence Jobard, incidentally, was replaced this year by Jerome Faure-Brac.) As is always the case, fruit from a great many properties owned or accessed by Drouhin is declassified and blended out, leaving only selected terroirs as the subjects of single-site bottlings. (In 2004, for example, even the Beaune Clos des Mouches – due to hail – was declassified into lip-smacking, remarkably soothing Cote de Beaune.) That said, as befits the quality of 2005, there were more individual bottlings from this vintage than is usual, and I did not taste all of them. (Wines from the Drouhin domaine holdings display a “D” in their listing.) This year’s collection radiates class from top to bottom. Even Drouhin’s ubiquitous, 25,000-case generic “Laforet” displays tender, ripe cherry fruit, a silky palate and iodine-like minerality. Also recommended: 2005 Bourgogne Laforet ($14.00;85). Importer: Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818 0770