Griotte Chambertin, Domaine Claude Dugat 2005

This is more elegant than the '05 Charmes with it slightly cooler and redder fruit nose that is liberally laced with spice, earth and oak wisps. There is also notably more minerality adding a sense of lift to the focused, concentrated and powerful broad-shouldered flavors that are shaped by relatively refined tannins on the hugely long and complex finish where the only nit is a trace of backend warmth. This is an exceptionally pretty wine, which like the Charmes will be capable of living for decades to come yet it's not so rigid and structured that it couldn't be enjoyed now if given adequate aeration first. It is interesting to note that Claude pointed out there have been problems with faking this specific wine. In fact, the first bottle that was opened, he confirmed to be a fake. It had his cork, but with "RX" on it, which is a cork he only used for his Bourgogne Rouge. And while the label was very well done, we could see, comparing it to the real deal, that it is more of a dark slate gray vs. black. Obviously this rating comes from the legitimate bottle.

Dugat’s 2005 Griotte-Chambertin offers startlingly concentrated aromas and flavors of ripe black raspberry, cherry and cassis, backed by cherry stone bitterness and underlain by marrow-like meaty suggestions and chalk. This displays a flatteringly creamy, subtly oily texture as well as real lift and verve on the palate, not being in the least weighed down by its palpable high extract and intensity of fruit. The finish is both strikingly long and – for all of the wine’s manifest ripeness and brightness – relatively austerely chalky, nutty and cyanic. In fact, you’d need a geologist’s pick to unpack the back end of this striking wine, and at least a dozen years before it would be worth sacrificing a bottle in the interests of interim evaluation.

This is easily the most elegant and refined wine to this point with exuberant red berry fruit aromas, spice, warm earth and a touch of anise leading to rich, full-bodied and taut flavors that possess excellent concentration that completely buffers the firm but buried tannins. A beautiful combination of power and finesse.