2009 Gevrey Chambertin Lavaux St Jacques

Bright, deep red. Complex, rather wild nose offers redcurrant, menthol, coffee, licorice and game. Like a red berry cocktail in the mouth, combining fat fruit with surprising energy and grip. Finishes very broad and long, with substantial fine-grained tannins and lingering notes of strawberry, raspberry and menthol. Arnaud Mortet told me that sunny years like 2003, 2005 and 2009 are typically best for this cuvee . He also noted that late malolactic fermentations kept his 2009s fresher than they might ordinarily have been. Lovely wine.

Bright red-ruby. Musky, high-pitched but slightly reduced nose hints at minerals and truffle. Juicy and quite imploded today, showing less personality than the Champeaux. Notes of licorice and spicy oak. Good soil-driven wine, not quite austere but taut today.

The 2009 Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux St. Jacques is a huge wine, but it is shutting down in bottle. The 2009 boasts incredible purity and depth in is fruit. Readers will need to be patient with the 2009. The extraordinary, deep finish is but one of the signs that points to the immense pedigree of Lavaux St. Jacques. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2039. eRobertParker.com.April, 2012