2005 Gevrey Chambertin Les Champeaux

Very heady yet pure as well. Glossily polished somehow yet with more than a whiff of molasses and scents that are verging on gamey already. Fine tannins and acidity. Very smooth and almost flashy in its impact. (JR)

From an inherited parcel with 60-year-old vines that Dugat first vinified in 2004, his 150 cases worth of 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Champeaux display some of the piquancy and overt minerality of the wine from its neighbor Les Evocelles, a remarkable clarity and purity of black cherry fruit, subtle gaminess, alluring notes of violets, vanilla, black tea and lime zest, and a superb finish of lift and elegance. For all of its “cool” high-elevation fruit character and its overt, pungent minerality, this is almost honeyed in its sweetness and utterly charming and generous already. Check it out again in 5-7 years, but count on an additional decade of interesting development. Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800.

From an inherited parcel with 60-year-old vines that Dugat first vinified in 2004, his 150 cases worth of 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Champeaux display some of the piquancy and overt minerality of the wine from its neighbor Les Evocelles, a remarkable clarity and purity of black cherry fruit, subtle gaminess, alluring notes of violets, vanilla, black tea and lime zest, and a superb finish of lift and elegance. For all of its “cool” high-elevation fruit character and its overt, pungent minerality, this is almost honeyed in its sweetness and utterly charming and generous already. Check it out again in 5-7 years, but count on an additional decade of interesting development. Apr 2007, www.robertparker.com