A deep and initially tight nose slowly evolves higher-toned and precise red fruits. Very good acidity and really palate staining flavours – very, very impressive – there’s a body of tannin that is deftly submerged by the fruit. The finish is excellent, even in this company.
Chambertin
2005 Latour Louis Chambertin
2005 Mortet Denis Chambertin
Medium, medium-plus colour. Wide, lovely precise red fruit on the nose, hints of tobacco too – not aromatically the deepest, but very, very nice. Lovely width on the palate and no fat. A wine that understatedly impresses. Fine length with an edge of coconut. Very good, but not worth a special search over many others here.
2005 Potel Nicolas Chambertin
2005 Rousseau Armand Chambertin
Medium-plus colour. A deep and creamy nose with higher red berry tones and quite a bit of creamy oak – quite a modern impression. The palate is absolutely jam-packed with excellent acidity and just so much action. The finish is very, very long but the flavours are more barrel than fruit driven – even hints of coconut. The style of oaky presentation makes me think to Rousseau.
2005 Trapet Père et Fils Chambertin
Sweet, slightly sulfury oak is the main aromatic theme there is a slightly more interesting interlude, but only in the context of this bottle, not the other wines. Apparently less concentrated than wines 4 and 5 but with a lovely width of flavours. Long, but less-so than most. Very fine for sure, but it’s struggling to keep its head above water in this company.
2005 Boisset Jean-Claude Chambertin
This wine has only been in bottle for about one week so should get better and better in the bottle. These grapes from these 70 year-old vines (that border the vines of Domaine Leroy) were harvested a full three weeks after the bans de vendanges, yet only come into the cuverie at 13.5°. The screw-cap version is oversold, so this is tasted from the cork sealed bottle. The nose develops a really creamy base though I didn’t stay with it long enough to see much more than a little extra width. Understated excellence on the palate, the multiple flavours just cling and cling to the inside of your mouth leaving a soft coating over your teeth. Will be fantastic.
2005 Clos Frantin Chambertin
Medium-plus colour. The nose is impressive with mineral and faintly animale notes mingling with dark fruit – very complex. Concentrated fruit magnificently covers the tannin. Linear entry to the palate, only subltly widening into the mid-palate before impressively bursting into the multi-dimensional finish. Wow! And I thought the Clos de Vougeot was good – this is fantastic quality.