1996 Echezeaux du Dessus

This dark-colored, complex wine has a refined nose of violets, cassis, blackberries, freshly laid asphalt, and toasted oak. Its expressive, full-bodied, powerful, and fat personality is fresh and lively. It is a concentrated wine packed with bing cherries, tangy cassis, hints of leather, and traces of toasted oak that linger in its impressively long finish. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2012+. This wine has been quarantined by the French government pending the results of a trial that will take place in December. The government claims that the estate, at that point still under the direction of Robert Jayer, chaptalised the wine over the limit set by the European Commission. According to the domaine's US importer, the Jayers claim that the wine was chaptalised within permissible ranges set by the INAO (the national body that governs wine-making for wines with appellation status). This is an outstanding wine. As Jayer defends himself in court (an expensive proposition), the ultimate fate of the wine in question is uncertain. There are three potential results. It could be released for sale with its proper label, it could be declassified to Vin de Table status, or it could be distilled into alcohol. Readers who have pre-ordered this offering will have to await the outcome of the trial to know whether they will receive their wine. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083.