2005 Nuits St Georges Les Corvees Pagets

From just outside Prissey, the 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Clos des Corvees Pagets leads with fresh black raspberry, wood smoke and vanilla, comes onto the palate juicy with fresh black fruits and warm beef juices, and with a depth, refinement of tannins and creaminess of texture that surpass the wines presented so far in this collection, and finishes with roasted meat, fresh black fruits and subtle spice. Also recommended: 2005 Bourgogne (85). Pascal Lachaux (the late Robert Arnoux’s son-in-law, who has been in charge here now for nearly two decades) had just bottled his 2005 collection – vinified in his superb, recently-completed, gravity-fed facilities – when I visited. Lachaux compares the proper watchword of the winemaker in a vintage with Pinot as healthy and naturally-concentrated as in 2005, to that of a chef confronted with a perfect piece of fish: restraint. That also describes the results he has achieved in bottle, although allowance should be made for the possibility that the expression of certain wines was restrained by their recent bottling. mporter: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990.