Volnay Clos des Ducs, Domaine Marquis d'Angerville 2005

The magnificently pure and airy essence of red pinot fruit is reserved and cool with its classy, sweet and vibrant flavors that are also linear and filled with an underlying tension, culminating in a fine, long and utterly harmonious finish that seems to go on and on. This is truly Zen-like in its harmony of expression. The '05 Ducster is destined to take its place alongside the greatest vintages of the past and while the words "best ever" are presumptuous in a wine with such a distinguished history, the mere fact that it has the potential to be among the very best is praise enough.

The d'Angerville 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 one's interest and release one's saliva for an extended period. Fine-grained and finely-integrated tannins are part of this wine's 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.)