Volnay, Clos des Ducs, 1er Cru, 2005

The dAngerville 2005 Volnay Clos des Ducs displays even more obvious structure than the Champans as well as concentration and complexity than the Taillepieds. Deep, rich meatiness, juicy fresh black fruits, bitter-sweet chocolate richness, ginger and cardamom, and chalky minerality are present throughout. This displays enough inner-mouth perfume and fineness of flavor to hold ones interest and release ones saliva for an extended period. Fine-grained and finely-integrated tannins are part of this wines tenacious cling. It will surely figure as one of the best in a long and distinguished line and be worth following for 15-20 years. This is one of those 2005s whose market price I have heard tell is bringing Pinot lovers to tears of despair, although the suggested retail pricing from the importer confirms the fact that neither they nor the domaine were greedy when it came to pricing this latest collection. (The impressively concentrated 2004 is a bit sweet-sour and faintly warm in finish today, but unlike so many wines of that vintage it is apt to have more to say for itself in another couple of years.) The late Jacques dAngervilles son Guillaume and long-time wine making collaborator and brother-in-law Renaud de Villette can boast a superb collection of 2005s, but an equally apt tribute to the legacy of the late Marquis are the odds-beating results they bottled from 2004, when to the universal difficulties of that vintage were added the ravages of hail it visited on Volnay. The 2005s fermented with pump-overs but no punch-downs and exhibit formidable underlying structure yet pure fruit and early, flattering textural development. Importer: Diageo Chateau and Estate Wines Company, New York, NY; tel. (212) 419-1400