2005 Nuits St Georges Les Chaignots

The 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Chaignots smells of black cherry, cassis, star anise and violets, offers a juicy, silken-textured palate loaded with ripe black fruits and underlain by low-toned toasted nut, roasted meat, and bitter chocolate, and finishes with depth and intensity of bitter-sweet fruit concentrate, flowers, meat and mineral, if also a bit of extraneous tannin. Having just been bottled for two weeks, this may be displaying some angularity or roughness simply on that account. It comes from relatively young vines of mixed clonal heritage, a further reminder that however desirable old Pinot vines may be (more for their genetic heritage than their age or yields per se) they are by no means necessary for success. Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802

(from 27-year-old vines, which Gouges described as "relatively young") Bright ruby-red. Slightly reduced but already complex nose offers blackberry, violet, minerals and dark chocolate. Offers compelling sweetness and suppleness of texture in a Vosne-like style but with no shortage of Nuits-Saint-Georges sturdiness underneath. A violet florality lifts the dark berry and mineral flavors. This boasts terrific palate coverage. A great early showing for this wine.