2003 Domaine Trapet Chambertin Grand Cru

Medium red. Musky, wild scents of raspberry, cherry jam, dried flowers, exotic spices, game and leather, plus a note of truffley underbrush. Large-scaled and powerful, conveying a liqueur-like quality to its red fruit and earth flavors. The wine's impression of sweetness is nicely supported by thick-skinned chewiness of texture and serious tannic clout. This wine seems to be in a state of suspended animation today and capable of evolving in bottle for another 20 years. The tannins spread out horizontally to saturate the tongue and teeth. Trapet admitted to acidifying his juice from young vines in this extreme season. (13.25% alcohol; 3.3 g/l acidity, 3.65 pH; 25 h/h; Trapet started the '03 harvest on August 27 and brought in his Chambertin on September 1)

The 2003 Chambertin has a rounded, muffled bouquet with touches of leather and dried rose-petals. There is respectable detail here considering that summer’s heat. The palate is balanced with a rounded and plush texture. It feels a little monotone upon first pouring, although it does coalesce nicely in the glass and develops greater tension and vigor with aeration. Yet it never really takes off in the way that a Chambertin should.

Good full red. Dark cherry, truffle, smoked meat and underbrush on the nose, lifted by a mineral component. Full and broad, with more concentration and volume than the Latricieres without coming across as weighty. Slightly exotic cherry confiture, truffle and earth flavors show a tangy quality but a bit less precision and early lift than the Latricieres. Perhaps this is merely subdued today. Trapet recommends holding this at least ten years.