2005 Vosne Romanee La Colombiere

Medium-deep red. Expressive aromas of roasted red berries and spices, with a lightly medicinal quality. Large-scaled, rich and sweet, if a bit youthfully sullen today. The long, fairly tannic finish features a flavor of maraschino cherry.

The 2005 Vosne-Romanee Les Colombiere – from 70- to 80-year-old vines in a relatively moisture-retentive site below the Chateau – is possessed of ravishing aromas of strawberry, red currant, black tea, exotic spices, vanilla and wood smoke, offers a striking contrast of creamy texture and bright, tart, red berry and rhubarb fruit on the palate, and finishes with brightness, delicacy and refinement. After so many deep, dark wines of 2005, here is one that is all brightness and light (and indeed quite light in color as well, possibly in part on account of recent sulfuring). Young Louis-Michel Liger-Belair – who considers himself a protege of the late Henri Jayer – has ambitious plans, and soon he will incorporate more of the family’s property (over which he only recently began assuming control – this was the last vintage in which wine was delivered to Bouchard on contract) and inaugurate a new negociant side of the business. Malos were very early, which Liger-Belair accepts as routine. He virtually eschews pigeage. “I try to avoid much extraction,” he says, “and in a year like 2005, it’s easy to extract too much.” But he has no compunction about a ten day cold soak nor about the lavish (100%) application of new barrels, which seemed to me a bit much for these wines. They had been in bottle around three weeks when I tasted, and despite the fact that they were never pumped, they struck me as being somewhat under the influence. Various Importers. A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet; fax 011-333-80-24-29-70.

The 2005 Vosne-Romanée la Colombière has a rustic and meaty nose that feels fully mature, a touch of wild mushroom developing in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with gaminess on the entry, a little feral and quite simple on the finish. I just feel that the terroir has caught up with this wine and pulled it back down, disallowing it to mature with the same assuredness as a premier cru might. I would drink this sooner rather than later. Tasted April 2015. eRobertParker.com.July, 2015