Medium colour. High-toned red fruits, no 2004-specific aromas. Mouth-filling and shows a little tannin – it’s very impressive – complex in the mid-palate. This is very nice indeed – I could love this one.
Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux St.Jacques
2004 Chézeaux Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux St.Jacques
Medium-pale colour. After the first whiff I chose to double decant – it may have helped a little, but there was still plenty of vintage ‘character’. Behind the mineral, cedary, slightly minty curtain is a pretty red fruit note that becomes ever brighter as the glass drains. In the mouth the ‘character’ is enough that it also intrudes on the flavour – on the other hand it’s sweet, nicely textured and would seem nicely transparent, even a little chocolaty. Drinkable, but hard for me to love this one.
2004 Mortet Denis Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux St.Jacques
(Magnum) Medium-plus colour and actually a faint shade darker than the 2005 if not quite the same level of purple reflections. The nose starts with mild 2004-specific aromas, but they build, eventually masking what is only a suggestion of concentrated fruit. This starts with enought dissolved gas to make it hard to judge – swirling reduces the problem, leaving you with a similar licorice/olive impression in the mid-palate and into the finish. There is also the 2004 flavour to martch the aromas. Impossible for me to love this.