1996 Vosne Romanee Les Chaumes

Medium-to-dark ruby-colored and revealing a blueberry and cherry-scented nose, this wine is opulent, silky-textured, medium-to-full-bodied, and profoundly rich. Its succulent personality offers mineral-like flavors intermingled with sweet red cherries that last throughout an admirable finish. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2006. Not a believer in recipe wine-making, Patrice Rion is constantly experimenting with new ideas. Used only once, a huge stainless steel tank, equipped with an intricate system of gas nozzles, stands by the front door of the cuverie serving as a constant reminder of this man's penchant for experimentation. Rion's latest idea is to stir the lees of his red wines. On the 1996s he performed between two and 6 batonnages prior to the on-set of malo-lactic fermentations. He told me that there was a direct correlation between the number of batonnages and the amount of lees "consumed" by the wines. Those that had undergone the process twice had significantly less lees at bottling than his non-stirred "control" barrels, and the wines that had undergone 6 batonnages had practically no lees left. From a tasting standpoint, this process gives the wines a lush, almost pasty mouth-feel when tried out of barrel. Rion says that by the time the wines are bottled the pastiness will have subsided and will have been replaced with a rich, velvety texture. Importer: A Becky Wasserman Selection, French Fax # 011-33-3-80-24-29-70, various American importers.