I think that Drouhin-Laroze are the only label you are likely to find for this 1er cru…
2005 Drouhin-Laroze, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Au Closeau
Medium-plus cherry-red with plenty of purple at the rim. The nose doesn’t have too much depth, but the width is interesting with fresh, precise red cherry/berry notes and an edge of cream. Leave it a couple of hours and you end up with a more classic and forward earthy note edged with cream. Fresh and perfectly balanced with understated but relatively fine tannin. The tannin comes a little more to the fore with time. Not the concentration of many Gevrey 1ers from the vintage, indeed it just seems a little light until you get some 1er cru dimension in the mid-palate and length. Would be a real success in 2004, but in context it’s only almost good in 2005. At any rate it’s interesting, competent, clean and fresh with no overt oak character – it’s also very tasty. At the price I paid (almost 60 Sfr), it’s far from great value though.
Rebuy – Maybe
There are 2 responses to “drouhin-laroze 2005 gevrey 1er au closeau”
Hi Bill,
Did you buy this at the domaine?
I have been regular with D-L in 04, 05, 06, 07 till I left Europe. But I tasted only some 04 which were “ok” (the Bonne Mare did not move me, which worries me a bit… but probably tasted way too young). Some of their 99 were excellent: in 04 when I first visited them, they still offered some older vintages like 99 and 02. But sadly, they do not offer tasting anymore. So you have to buy without knowing if you like it. Only once I was invited to do down the cellar and taste the 2005 “sur fut”. That was quite a nice experience.
Stefano
No Stefano, I bought it from Granchâteau the Swiss importer…
: )
Well, except the nice smile and kindness of Christine D-L, you do not really miss something as you cant taste there… I also use Granchateau as is offering is amazing, even if the markup is a bit hard to swallow sometime… By the way, he is now proposing Clos des Lambrays 09 en primeur right now, he must be one of the first one to do so.