A brooding nose with almost no discernable wood influence of very ripe and moderately earthy aromas where the earth continues onto the rich, ripe and impressively dense flavors that also are textured and palate drenching supported by buried yet relatively fine tannins that are rendered almost completely invisible by the superb level of dry extract. This is a big bad boy fashioned in classic old school Corton style with huge aging potential.

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($135) Good medium bright red. Ineffable aroma of musky strawberry, iron, smoke and dried rose. Silky, full and deep, with a seamless texture and captivating soil tones. As creamy and lush as this is, the dominant impression is one of delicacy and focus. Highly complex, extract-rich flavors of strawberry, minerals, mocha, earth and underbrush. A compelling wine of terroir whose captivating sweetness, fine tannins and superb persistence makes it almost deceptively drinkable today. But this big boy will be around for at least a couple of decades.

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The Bouchard 2005 Le Corton - from very chalky parcels in the Ur-Corton as it were, just below the forest - offers aromas of cedar, spice, and smoked meat, a rather austere but certainly well-concentrated palate impression, and a bit of blockage by tannin. This seems to have been caught at a very awkward stage today.

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Dark, dense and brooding, with a wild, feral side, but also intense flavors of blackberry, cassis, bacon and sandalwood. There's also a mineral streak and a corps of well-knit tannins. This will require time, but the payback will be worth it.

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