1995 Pommard Jarollieres

The Pommard Les Jarollieres reveals dark berry aromas intermingled with roasting spices and a thick-textured, medium-to-full-bodied character. Copious quantities of concentrated and extracted black cherries with notes of herbal spices flow over the palate. Gerard Potel has produced some of the purest and most elegant Volnay's I have tasted. His '85 Clos De La Bousse D'Or is graceful, sweet, silky, and simply magnificent today. It is one of the few '85s that is putting on body as it evolves. Potel, historically an interventionist winemaker, lectured me on his belief that fining and filtering do no damage to a wine's quality. Yet he also informed me that he was not subjecting his wines to either procedure in 1995 because they were so clear and healthy. As always, ratings with a score in parentheses indicate the wine was tasted from cask, not bottle. Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel (212) 355-0700.