2005 Domaine Sylvain Cathiard Vosne-Romanée Aux Malconsorts 1er Cru

I recall tasting the 2005 Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Malconsorts from barrel with Sylvain back in 2007 and thinking something along the lines of “Wow.” And despite being first in the line-up of many older vintages, this still ranks as one of Sylvain’s finest creations. It has a pure and precocious mint-tinged nose that is almost crystalline in its purity, deftly handling the new oak and retaining its youthful zeal. There is a sense of symmetry and precision on the palate – not a hair out of place. The fruit is slightly darker than its ’02 counterpart tasted alongside. The finish offers a gentle crescendo that risks leaving the imbiber stupefied. Give it a few more years, but this is one case where I empathize with infanticide. Drink 2017-2030+ Tasted June 2014.

Good saturated dark red. Pungent, mineral-driven aromas of raspberry, smoke, cocoa powder and spices. Silky on entry, then lush and seamless in the middle; a distinct step up in sweetness and depth from the foregoing samples. At once velvety and weightless in the manner of a top grand cru, offering superb lift, an impression of strong extract, and an ineffable floral quality. Wonderfully sappy, sweet and long on the aftertaste, with the fine-grained tannins concealed by a whiplash of fruit. I found this bottle remarkably sexy already, but it should be better a decade from now.