2004 Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes

Sylvie Esmonin mentioned 1990 but concluded that she couldn't really compare 2005 to any other vintage. "Two thousand five is riper than 1990, and the wines have great balance," she said. "They're more ample than the 2002s and will age longer." Esmonin has been vinifying with a growing percentage of whole clusters since 2000 and believes that this element gives her wines more richness and diversity of aromas. To make it possible to keep the stems, she harvests late, when the tannins are riper. In 2005, she picked a full week after the official start to the harvest, and even her bourgogne has a generous 13.3% alcohol. "The stems give energy," she told me, "so we can afford to pick later with higher sugars." (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY) Also recommended: Cote de Nuits-Villages (85+?), Gevrey-Chambertin (86+?).

Sylvie Esmonin reported that 2004 was a fairly small crop-between 22 and 30 hectoliters per hectare across her parcels-as she eliminated a sizable percentage of the fruit to ripen the rest. She has been doing what she described to me as "a lot of whole-cluster vinification" in recent years, and she emphasized that one needs riper grapes and stems to be able to do this. In fact, in 2004 only 2 of her 11 cuvees were chaptalized, and the Clos Saint-Jacques, harvested on October 2, came in with 13. 9% potential alcohol. As of the time of my November visit, she was warming to the 2004s. "It's a year that astonishes us now for its color, purity and length," she told me. "In fact, there's not a big difference between 2002 and 2004 in the length of the wines. "In 2003, Esmonin harvested extremely late compared to her colleagues on the Cote de Nuits, beginning on September 5 and bringing in fruit with potential alcohol between 13. 9% and 14. 4%.