1995 Clos Vougeot Le Grand Maupertuis

(FORMERLY KNOWN AS DOMAINE ANNE ET FRANCOIS GROS) Very dark, aromatically, the fragrant Clos Vougeot explodes with highly-concentrated cassis and blueberries. In the inky, almost impenetrable mouth, abundant quantities of toasted dark fruits, oak and Asian spices are found in this full-bodied hunk of a wine. Long and powerful, it will require considerable patience. Anticipated maturity: 2004-2014. This note is the result of tastings I did in Burgundy between January 7 and January 29. The wine was tasted from cask, not bottle. Pinot Noir, a fragile varietal, reacts poorly to fining, filtration, and careless bottling techniques, I recommend caution when considering buying a red burgundy based on cask samples. I called it as I tasted it, and hope the bottled wine reflects the quality of the samples I was provided. Anne Gros has bought out her father Francois' interest in this estate and is making super-extracted, black, deeply layered, intense wines. Lightly filtered but not fined, she uses between 80-90% new oak on her two grand crus. I consider it impossible to produce an inkier wine from Pinot Noir than she did in 1995. Readers who search out Pinot Noir with refined notes of strawberries, raspberries and tangy cherries should be aware that these wines are the antithesis. A Peter Vezan Selection (Paris Fax # 011-33-1-42-65-42-93), importers include : North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel (510) 848-8910.