2005 Latricieres-Chambertin

David Croix described 2005 as "a great year, definitely my best yet, even if the young wines are a bit austere in nature." Only the fruit from sites affected by drought required a bit of chaptalization. Everything went easily, Croix added, and the malos finished fairly quickly, with most of the wines through by late winter. Croix did four or five punchdowns per day at the beginning of the fermentation, then almost none toward the end. He kept fermentation temperatures from exceeding 32oC because he was afraid of getting harsh tannins. In fact, he told me that although he's convinced that 2005 is a great and opulent vintage, he hasn't tried to make big, extractive wines. Camille Giroud purchased no new barrels for 2005, and the wines that I tasted were aging in roughly 10% new oak. Some were a bit tricky to taste as Croix was continuing to use the lees to keep the wines bright in barrel. (A Becky Wasserman selection; importers include Willette Wines, New York, NY and Veritas Imports, Beverly Hills, CA)