Gevrey Chambertin, Les Combottes, 1er Cru, 2009

The 2009 Gevrey-Chambertin Aux Combottes is another dazzling wine. It shows extraordinary freshness in its tiny yet persistent bursts of fruit. This is pure class from start to finish. The tannins are pure silky, while sweet floral notes weave throughout, giving the wine lift and extraordinary sensuality. The Combottes is hauntingly beautiful. It will be a fascinating wine to follow over the coming years and decades. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2039. This was my first opportunity to taste the 2009s from Domaine Leroy in bottle. Lalou Bize-Leroy was among the first, if not the first, to bottle her 2009s, so she naturally wanted to give the wines some time to recover before showing them. The wines are stunning. Readers who have an opportunity to taste them should not hesitate. As always, the style is one of textural richness and depth, but the2009s appear to have excellent underlying material as well. The attention to every detail at the Domaine is quite evident in these thrilling wines. My visit ended with a sample of the 2010 Chambertin from barrel. Why not go straight to the top? If that wine is representative of the year, Leroy fans will have another superb vintage to look forward to, although yields will be lower than the already minuscule production. Importer: Martines Wines. Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-040

DRINKING WINDOW 2019 - 2039

date of review 09/2011