2002 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques 1er Cru

Good dark red. Wild, evolving nose combines black olive, game, spices, truffle, earth and a whiff of balsamic plum and sandalwood. Spicy, gamey and complex on the palate, showing a sexy candied quality to the flavors of black raspberry pastille and smoke. Fat with fruit but the wine's serious acidity and smooth tannins should hold it effortlessly for another decade. A captivating note of violet emerged with aeration. Incidentally, this was the first vintage in which Sylvie Esmonin vinified with a portion of the stems. She actually began with two cuvées of this juice, and she included 50% whole clusters in the batch that she vinified without SO2. Lovely energy here.

Deep ruby-red. Highly perfumed aromas of black fruits, violet, espresso and sweet oak. Denser and thicker than the old-vines Gevrey but also quite lively, despite coming off as a bit youthfully closed today. A wonderfully silky wine that hints at dark fruits, violet and flowers. Finishes with terrific length. This needs a good six or eight years of additional bottle aging.

(aging in all new barrels) Bright medium ruby. Blackberry, violet, minerals, bitter chocolate, mint and spicecake on the oaky nose. Superrich yet sappy, with liqueur-like fruit and chocolate flavors leavened by strong acids. Very black fruit in character, especially for a wine from this vineyard. A chewy, oaky, powerful wine whose big tannins are currently covered by lush fruit. Vastly different in style from the elegant, leaner wines made here in the late '80s and early '90s. I look forward to seeing the finished product.