2005 Morey St Denis

Truchot sold off his crops of village-level Chambolle and Gevrey but bottled a 2005 Morey-St.-Denis from parcels near the route nationale that displays alluring aromas of incense, baking spices, plum, black cherry and smoked meat. In the mouth this offers satisfying smoothness and attractive sweet fruit and spiciness, and it finishes with quite silken if understated length. There will probably be more nuance when the wine has rested. This displays a healthy color, by the way, but is not entirely lipid. Also recommended: 2005 Bourgogne ($20.00; 86+?). After twenty-six vintages (twenty-two of them, thankfully, having been sold in the U.S., which became his largest market), and with no heirs, 68-year-old Jacky Truchot is retiring. Even the portion of Clos Sorbe behind the hulking family manor (familiar to Burgundy lovers from the old photograph on his label) is for sale with the house. Truchot’s wines could rightly be called “old-fashioned”, which made them all the more exceptional and coveted in recent years. As Robert Parker wrote of them in these pages in 1991, “as light ... as they appear, they often possess stunning fragrances and amazing richness and character.” The expression “grown, not made” has never been truer than of these wines of a farmer bonded with his vines, and they offer terrific values. Truchot expressed relief at having bowed out on a high note and especially at having missed out on 2006! I visited on an inopportune occasion, as these wines had only been bottled that week (although as usual, without pumping or filtering), and at least in part suffered from recent sulfuring. Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800.