2005 Domaine Frédéric Esmonin Ruchottes-Chambertin Grand Cru

A highly complex nose of wood spice, earth, truffle, crushed herbs, red berries and violets lead to delicious, sappy and mouth coating flavors that are quite powerful, all wrapped in a structured and hugely long finish. There are buckets of dry extract here that confer a velvety textured to the intense finish. Excellent potential here and worth a close look.

Author: Allen Meadows

Issue: 1st Quarter, 2007

Good ruby-red. Darker berries on the nose, with a violet topnote and a whiff of meat. Rich, densely packed and sappy, with an enticing creaminess to the strong fruit-driven flavors of maraschino cherry, kirsch and black raspberry. This boasts a lovely balance, plenty of ripe tannins and terrific length and complexity on the back. Atypically rich for this bottling at Esmonin.

Author: Stephen Tanzer

Issue: March/April 2007