2005 Nuits St Georges Les Cailles

From a recent acquisition, the Bouchard 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Cailles displays tart, cherry-rhubarb fruit character. Distinct chalkiness but pliable texture, along with impressive clarity of fruit and inner-mouth perfume, lead to a clean, lean, refined red fruit, spice and chalky mineral finish. Managing director Stephane Follin and cellar master Philippe Prost preside over a remarkable new, gravity-fed winemaking facility capable of handling the fruits of Bouchard’s 130 hectares of vines – Burgundy’s largest estate (with 84 hectares in premier and grand crus alone) – not to mention the enormous range of wine from purchased fruit or wines. Fully 40% of the reds are vinified in open-top fermenters with manual punch-downs (the balance in a battery of roto-fermentors) and the system of traffic control alone that must be in place during crush is hard to imagine. The underground acreage devoted to barriques similarly defies imagination – until one sees it. Prost was very cautious with pigeage this year, but incorporated a significant percentage of whole clusters with stems in many of his better lots. A reputation for improved quality is being built here to which the results of 2005 will certainly contribute. I suspect that a number of the wines I tasted had not recovered from their recent bottling, hence the number of “+?”s one sees displayed following my scores. (Wines from the Domaine are designated D on the list above.) Also recommended: 2005 Savigny-les-Beaune Les Lavieres D ($30.00; 86), 2005 Monthelie Les Duresses D ($35.00; 84), 2005 Monthelie Clos des Champs Fulliot D ($35.00; 85), 2005 Beaune 1er Cru “Beaune du Chateau” D ($45.00; 86+?), 2005 Beaune Marconnets ($35.00; 86+?), 2005 Volnay Taillepieds D ($55.00; 85+?), 2005 Pommard 1er Cru ($45.00; 84+?), 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges ($55.00; 85), 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin ($35.00; 86), 2005 Vosne-Romanee ($35.00; 85), 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Porrets St.-Georges ($55.00; 86+?), 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Damodes ($55.00; 86+?). Importer: Henriot, Inc, New York, NY

Bright ruby-red. Sappy, nuanced nose combines black cherry, licorice and minerals. Juicy, penetrating and fine, with insinuating inner-palate perfume and flavor intensity. Very mineral-driven wine with a restrained sweetness and a broad, palate-saturating back end. The tannins arrive late, giving the perfume a chance to expand in the mouth.

Cask sample. Sweet slightly medicinal cherry and spice on the nose. Smoky oak overlay and opening out to a masculine exoticism. Lovely crisp acidity perfectly aligned with firm fine tannins and supporting this darkly spicy fruit. Spicy oak a bit dominant at the end just now. (JH)