2005 Fixin Hervelets

"I never prefer the big vintages in Burgundy, because the wines stay closed for so long," said Dominique Laurent in November. "I prefer years like 2006 and 2010." I tasted Laurent's domain wines at the end of my marathon of negociant samples, all direct from barrel. Laurent noted that he picked the estate fruit between October 4 and 12. The formula for the domain wines, which he makes with his son Jean in oak cuves, includes "very little destemming, no sulfur additions, no refrigeration, no chemical products, no thermic shock, no maceration before or after the fermentation, and a bit of pigeage only during the last two or three days." The colors were very slow to come in 2010, he said. "The wines looked like roses for the first seven to ten days."

"There are two indicators of a great year," Dominique Laurent told me before we began tasting his 2009s. "First, the wines are very precise to their terroir. Second, they mount in power during their elevage. The 2009s are doing that despite the high yields of the vintage. They began less precise than the 2006s but are showing increasing site specificity with elevage, and they're more profound than the 2006s. It's a classic vintage, but classic doesn't necessarily mean austere; there can be joy in it." Laurent pointed out that 2009 is one of those rare years (like 1999, 1990 and 1985) in which the crus of the Cote de Beaune can be at the level of their counterparts from the Cote de Nuits in texture and energy. "This year it's worth buying the best Cote de Beaune bottlings; they will eventually be mistaken for great Cote de Nuits wines." Laurent is convinced that 2009 is for long aging; he compared the vintage to 1964 and 1962. He told me he cut back on his use of new oak for the 2009s and that he planned to bottle the wines on the early side, in February and March of 2011.

"When you pruned for low yields in 2008, you could get fruit with much better maturity and less rot," said Dominique Laurent. "It was a vintage for the outstanding gardeners. Great vignerons made great wines, but even very good ones often had too much crop. My metier as a negociant required me to declassify a lot of my barrels." For example, Laurent will offer no Volnays under his flagship label due to hail. Laurent noted that he will offer some domain wines from vintage 2009 under the Domaine Laurent Pere & Fils label.

I have the impression that Laurent's wines have been much more consistent in quality since the 2000 vintage, and his 2003s showed extremely well in November.Laurent was very much in the camp of the late harvesters, as thoroughly ripe phenolic material is crucial to his elevage.Almost all of his wines from the Cote de Nuits came from fruit harvested in September; but even most of his Cote de Beaunes were picked after the refreshing precipitation of August 28.Laurent told me that half of the malos were finished by the time he took possession of the barrels of wine in January and February.In general, those wines that were vinified with whole clusters proceeded more slowly.For those willing to purchase wine from Laurent's early en primeur offering, there are always some serious bargains here:with 2003, Laurent will offer village wines from Gevrey, Chambolle, Volnay and Pommard that consist mainly of declassified premier crus, including old vines from lesser crus-often at opening prices that are barely half as high as his premier crus.As usual, I sampled a boatload of wine here, but not everything. Laurent told me that most of his village wines, plus his premier crus from the Cote de Beaune, were aging in 50% new and 50% one-year-old barrels, while his grand crus were in all new oak.For what it's worth, he noted that Clos Vougeot, Echezeaux, Grands Echezeaux and Musigny were his best vineyards in 2003. I should point out that virtually all of Laurent's 2003s will say "Vieilles Vignes" on the label.

Dominique Laurent describes 2001 as "a very classy vintage, a bit like '78 and '85 but from a growing season with a more normal climate." Laurent's best bottlings boast the creamy sweetness (many of his wines come from ancient pinot fin vines) to support their high percentage of sexy new oak-in many instances his special "magic casks," which he makes from extra-thick Troncais oak staves. And the wines, judging from my tasting of a range of Laurent's finished 2000s, are more consistent today than in prior vintages. My suppliers are doing better vinifications now than ever before. Previously, in a great year the wines were great. But in lesser vintages, some of them could be meager. Now they're much more consistent." Laurent bottled his 2000s between April and July of 2002, a bit early by his standards, and expected to bottle the 2001s between June and September of this year, possibly after carrying out an extra racking "for the big boys, the crus that start in all new oak." Few eleveurs use extended barrel aging so effectively to fill out the textures and extend the finishes of their wines: the 2000s that I tasted in blind flights against their peers in January and early February were consistently the deepest and longest wines on the table. These wines also held their fruit for days in the recorked bottles.

Laurent, who took over an airy cave in the hills above Nuits-Saint-Georges just in time for the '96 vintage, has another splendid set of wines in the works. Interestingly, he reports that the '96 vintage was quite stable; in contrast, the juice in '95 was more oxidative in nature and thus needed longer enrichment on the lees after the first racking. Laurent, who dreams of eventually retiring to Normandy and making Camembert, believes that his '96s have enough structure and strength to be bottled earlier. In November, he was talking about beginning the bottling in January or February of '98, several months earlier than for the '95s. The 1996 vintage offers terrific fruit, he says, but it not at all thin in structure or backbone. All the '96 grand crus except for the Latricieres- and Charmes-Chambertin were aged in 200% new oak (i.e., racked from a brand-new barrel to another new cask following the malo), but in the case of several village wines and premier crus of which Laurent has multiple-barrel lots, he actually reduced the percentage of new oak from past levels. Note that Laurent makes several offerings of his wines. Thus prices for these bottles vary quite widely, depending on when and how they were purchased. In general, consumers who buy these wines early can lock in much more favorable prices. (A Patrick Lesec selection; importers include Wine Cask Imports, Santa Barbara, CA, Adventures in Wine, Daly City, CA, and Classic Wine Imports, Boston, MA; also imported by Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd., Lake Success, NY.)