2005 Bouchard Père & Fils Volnay Les Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot 1er Cru

Bright, saturated dark red. Rather low-toned aromas of dark raspberry, plum, chocolate, earth, leather, cinnamon and nutty oak, with a hint of minerality. Dense, smoky and deep, with a slightly high-toned character and considerable ripeness to the reticent but rich fruit and earth flavors. This rather full Volnay is very ripe and stuffed with material but a bit mute today, its broad, chewy tannins calling for patience. In an awkward stage today: a year ago my sample showed much more nerve.

A 2005 Volnay Caillerets Ancien Cuvee Carnot – representing a Bouchard monopole and the historical origins of their domaine, and taking up nearly 30% of the Caillerets appellation – offers lovely aromas and flavors of strawberry and cherry with floral, spice and chalky mineral nuances that point to the site, although its more typical carnal or fungal manifestations are absent, at least for now. Refreshingly bright and clear in fruit, it finishes with invigorating persistence. Managing director Stephane Follin and cellar master Philippe Prost preside over a remarkable new, gravity-fed winemaking facility capable of handling the fruits of Bouchard’s 130 hectares of vines – Burgundy’s largest estate (with 84 hectares in premier and grand crus alone) – not to mention the enormous range of wine from purchased fruit or wines. Fully 40% of the reds are vinified in open-top fermenters with manual punch-downs (the balance in a battery of roto-fermentors) and the system of traffic control alone that must be in place during crush is hard to imagine. The underground acreage devoted to barriques similarly defies imagination – until one sees it. Prost was very cautious with pigeage this year, but incorporated a significant percentage of whole clusters with stems in many of his better lots. A reputation for improved quality is being built here to which the results of 2005 will certainly contribute. I suspect that a number of the wines I tasted had not recovered from their recent bottling, hence the number of “+?”s one sees displayed following my scores. (Wines from the Domaine are designated D on the list above.) Also recommended: 2005 Savigny-les-Beaune Les Lavieres D ($30.00; 86), 2005 Monthelie Les Duresses D ($35.00; 84), 2005 Monthelie Clos des Champs Fulliot D ($35.00; 85), 2005 Beaune 1er Cru “Beaune du Chateau” D ($45.00; 86+?), 2005 Beaune Marconnets ($35.00; 86+?), 2005 Volnay Taillepieds D ($55.00; 85+?), 2005 Pommard 1er Cru ($45.00; 84+?), 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges ($55.00; 85), 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin ($35.00; 86), 2005 Vosne-Romanee ($35.00; 85), 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Porrets St.-Georges ($55.00; 86+?), 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Damodes ($55.00; 86+?). Importer: Henriot, Inc, New York, NY

(another four-hectare parcel) Good deep ruby-red. Lovely verve and lift to the aromas of black cherry, violet and licorice. Densely packed and aristocratic, with a suave shape to its concentrated dark cherry, cassis and spice flavors. This has an exhilarating sugar/acid balance. Builds impressively toward the back, finishing fresh and intense, with the black fruits accented and intensified by a minty nuance.