2005 Echezeaux

Due largely to the hailstorm in May, which hit the north side of Vosne-Romanee especially hard, Bernard Gros had just half a normal crop in 2005 ("it was like 2003 in quantity") and for some cuvees he made no use of his evaporator to further concentrate the wines. This estate's wines are getting interesting again, as the mostly young vines gain in maturity: Gros replanted literally 90% of his 21 hectares with selected clones between 1985 and 1995. Incidentally, he told me the clones offered a significant advantage in 2006 because they normally ripen their fruit a week earlier. And Gros emphasized that his concentrator, which he adopted in 1996, is not an "osmoser" (i.e., a reverse osmosis device) but rather an "amplifier." Gros prefers to use this method because he believes that chaptalizing involves adding a foreign object to his wine. Gros had moved his 2005s to stainless steel tank a couple weeks before my visit and planned to bottle them in January. These tanks are on the roof level of his facility, and he lets the temperature of the wines descend to just a few degrees above freezing by opening the windows. (A Patrick Lesec Selection; importers include Classic Wine Imports, Boston, MA; Fine Vines LLC, Melrose Park, IL; WH Imports, Manassas , VA)