2005 Gevrey Chambertin
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Tasting notes
Pure, bright red-ruby color. Superripe aromas of plum and black cherry. Like a confiture of black cherry and dark berries on the palate, with a distinctly exotic character and a strong note of licorice. This is definitely less expressive than the CNV, and the tannins are tougher. But I also found it just this side of roasted, perhaps due to a tumultuous fermentation (Esmonin used 30% whole clusters here, and admitted that including a higher percentage of the stems normally results in a more even fermentation). Needs time, and will probably be best served with a meat dish.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Forty year-old vines in deep soils produce this. Rich raspberry fruit, very flattering with a solid nose that is both juicy and winning – and very easy to like. Lots of charam. Above all fruity though there is some sinewy structure hidden under all that fruit too. Dom Sylvie Esmonin, 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin 16.5 Drink 2010-16 Relatively deep crimson. Quite a low-key nose. Energetic fruit, bursting with life. (JR)
From a mixture of deeper-soiled and pebbly sites with vines of around 40 years age comes Esmonin’s 2005 Gevrey Chambertin (nicknamed “Cuvee Ronde”). This exhibits bright red cherry aromas with wood smoke and underbrush accents, and hints of flowers. Roast beef, licorice and chocolate add complexity on the palate, but the brightness of ripe cherry fruit – albeit without any superficial sweetness – is a constant. Once again we have what only sounds like the paradoxical character of 2005: flavors on the dark side, but a brightness of fresh fruit acidity. The wine shows abundant fine tannin, ameliorated by a slick of glycerin. With the same one-third whole cluster vinification as the Cote de Nuits-Villages, this Gevrey is less flattering and marginally less refined. Still, there is plenty of fresh finishing fruit along with a persistently roasted meat and salt and stone mineral cast. Sylvie Esmonin is a staunch believer in the use of whole clusters with stems (“the method of my grandfather’s day”) to enhance florality, fruit and structure, which presupposes late harvest. But she claims that this method of vinification itself helps moderate the efficiency of alcoholic conversion. In any event, levels of alcohol were the last thing noticeable as I was wowed by this year’s collection which, as usual, she planned not to begin bottling any earlier than April. Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 334 8191.
(vinified with 30% whole clusters) Bright, deep ruby-red. Sappy, pure aromas of red and black cherry, licorice, bitter chocolate and flowers. Bright, strong and nicely delineated, with very fresh flavors of cherry, licorice and minerals framed by sound acidity. Finishes persistent and quite firm.