2004 Les Pavots

Deep ruby. Sexy blackcurrant and boysenberry aromas with complicating tobacco and espresso tones. Lush and sweet, with dark fruit flavors, full body and dense, chewy tannins providing support. Turns silky with air, picking up more energetic red fruit tones and a light suggestion of iron. Finishes suave, focused and long, the blackcurrant note repeating. Luc Morlet compares this to the 2001 version.

Bright medium ruby. Primary, brooding aromas of dark berries, licorice and mint; quite youthfully closed today. Then massive and powerful in the mouth, with superconcentrated and nearly syrupy flavors of blueberry, blackberry, black cherry, chocolate and earth. As outsized as this is, there's something suave about it. Finishes with major ripe tannins and terrific persistence. This very slowly evolving wine is hard to get a grip on today. I have the feeling that the moderating influence of foggy days during the peak September heat prevented this wine from going over the top.

The 2004 Les Pavots is ripe and is a relatively similar blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The wine exhibits notes of forest floor intermixed with chocolate, blueberry, blackberry, espresso, and spice. It is strikingly more tannic, and closed compared to the 2005, which is almost the reverse of the vintage character. There were only 2,000 cases produced of the 2004, which needs 2-3 years of bottle age and should drink well for 15+ years.||This 121-acre estate with 114 producing acres of vineyard all located in Knight’s Valley continues to be at the top of their game and I can’t recommend the wines highly enough.||I was surprised when I showed up at Peter Michael to find both Nicolas Morlet, who replaced his brother Luc, and Luc Morlet himself, were at my tasting. It seems that Luc is still doing consulting work with his brother firmly entrenched at the winery. This is still one of the best-run wineries in the world, and one might quibble over the fact that there are so many different cuvees of Chardonnay, but they are all subtly different in style/personality. The Morlets proclaimed to me that essentially there is very little difference in the character of the Chardonnays in 2005 and 2006, except they thought the acid levels were slightly higher in 2005 and the 2006s were riper. In any event, these are sensational Chardonnays, and readers couldn’t go wrong no matter which one they buy.||Previously recommended: 2005 Sauvignon Blanc l’Apres Midi (93), 2004 Chardonnay Point Rouge (95+), 2004 Chardonnay Mon Plaisir (94), 2004 Chardonnay Ma Belle-Fille (94), 2004 Chardonnay Cuvee Indigene (97), 2004 Chardonnay La Carriere (95), 2004 Chardonnay Belle Cote (95).||Tel. (707) 942-3200; Fax (707) 942-0209 Wine Advocate.December, 2007