2005 Charmes Chambertin

Bright, deep red. Dark chocolate and medicinal berries on the rather closed nose. Concentrated and fresh but backward, with very ripe flavors of jammy morello cherry and cinnamon. As young and burly as this is, it shows more fruit today than the Echezeaux, and yet its medicinal reserve and concentration suggest that it will evolve slowly and go on for a couple of decades in the bottle. A distinctly powerful style of Charmes, but with subtle finishing minerality.

The parade of Dujac grand crus begins with their 2005 Charmes-Chambertin, assembled from several parcels in both Mazoyeres and “Ur-“ Charmes. Especially coming after the striking contrast of the two Vosne crus, this smells and tastes like the proverbial bowl of cherries. Polished and incipiently creamy, it’s like a pillow after the firm mattresses offered by the two Vosnes for long resting in the cellar. Licorice, chalk dust, and slight hints of game lend complexity to this wine’s forward fruit and inform a finish of refined structure and imposing length that should drink well early. The already rich array of crus at Domaine Dujac has recently been augmented on two fronts. The purchase (along with de Montille) of the Societe Civile du Clos de Thorey (Thomas-Moillard) has brought them a raft of choice parcels including three new grand cru holdings (for a staggering total of eight). Meanwhile, they have expanded their negociant arm (with control over harvest and green harvest a prerequisite) to supplement in particular their volumes of village-level wine. (Those wines – labeled “Dujac Fils & Pere” – are signified in the above listing with “FP”. In fact, due to a legal technicality, the 2005 vintage wines from the properties newly acquired by the domaine – but not subsequent vintages – will also read “Fils & Pere” rather than “Domaine”.) Even with California-trained oenologist Diana Seysses (nee Snowden) joining her husband Jeremy and in-laws Jacques and Alec, and with a new winery (though at the old address) I wonder at how they are able to keep up with the magnitude of their responsibilities. Yet despite so many parcels and vines new to them this year, the results are consistently outstanding and at times astounding. Much of the vinification – increasingly as one goes up the hierarchy of crus – was of whole clusters. Malos finished (finally) by November and the wines were bottle in December and January. Importer: The Sorting Table, Napa, CA; tel.(415) 491 4724

(this was partly destemmed) Bright, saturated red-ruby. Sappy aromas of black cherry and smoked meat; this needs a racking. Fat, chewy and sweet, with a black cherry flavor currently overshadowed by toasty, gamey reduction. Finishes dense and broad, with ripe tannins coating every surface of the mouth. Less minerally and more monolithic than the Combottes. Jeremy Seysses says this wine has gained in weight in recent years but is never fine. About 60% of the blend is from the top and bottom portions of Mazoyeres, while the other 40% is ideally situated "true Charmes."