2004 Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras 1er Cru

"What a vintner can only dream of," said Christophe Roumier about the 2005 growing season and harvest. "An ideal season and easy-to-make wines. In 2005 we got a rare combination of ripeness with freshness. The look of the crop was like 1990. The berries were small and loose and detached easily. The fruit didn't have the same extreme ripeness as 1990 but sugars were high and no chaptalization was necessary." As in 1999, 1996 and 1990, there were no disease pressures in 2005, Roumier added. Roumier vinified with 20% to 25% whole clusters, as the stems were ripe and healthy, and the slower release of sugar by the unbroken berries offered the advantage of extending the fermentations. Roumier feels that most 2005s will be attractive young. He describes the vintage as a combination of 2002, in terms of quality of tannins and acidity, and 1999, for its richness, flesh and blacker fruit flavors. "The 2002s are radically minerally and demanding," he told me, "whereas the 2005s hide nothing; they may always be tasteable but they will age for a long time." Incidentally, the basic Bourgogne here is a winner in 2005. (Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, New York, NY) Also recommended: Chambolle-Musigny (86).

Christophe Roumier told me he dropped fruit several times during the summer of '04, not due to powdery mildew but more a result of the botrytis that set in during a cool, rainy August. He eliminated hail-affected grapes again after the August 23 storm to help the rest get ripe, then selected again during the harvest and, finally, on a sorting table. "We began with a huge crop but finished with an average one," he said. Luckily, a dry, sunny September gave us ripe tannins with good sugars, even if the skins weren't thick. The acids were still a bit higher than average, but lower than those of 2002. "Following unusually slow malos due to what he described as almost double the normal amount of malic acidity, Roumier racked his 2004s in September.