1996 Beaune Clos des Couchereaux

I flipped for the cookie dough and sugar-coated raspberry aromatics of the Beaune Clos Des Couchereaux. On the palate it offers plump, sweet cherries (reminiscent of a deep dish pie) encased in a firmly structured and medium-to-full body. This superb Beaune will require two to three years of cellaring after its release. Drink it between 2001 and 2005. Wine lovers have come to expect first rate Beaunes from the Gagey-Lardiere team at Maison Jadot, and that's exactly what they delivered in 1996. The bright sunny days of September allowed the vines on these hillside vineyards to attain full physiological ripeness, which is not an annual occurrence in these cool sites. The score, on a range and in parentheses, indicates that the wine was tasted from barrel. "I am in love with this vintage's purity and its touch of tension," said Pierre-Henri Gagey, Maison Louis Jadot's director. Jacques Lardiere, this negociant house's talented winemaker, shares Gagey's enthusiasm for the 1996s, feeling they beautifully reflect their respective terroirs. Lardiere bled (a technique of removing the watery juice of a light pressing to increase concentration) many of the 1996s, "but never more than 10%," and performed a 28 to 35 day cuvaison in order to extract a maximum amount of flavor, color, and aromas while softening the tannins. These wines will neither be fined nor filtered prior to bottling. Importer: Kobrand, Inc., New York, NY; (212) 490-9300.