2005 Bouchard Père & Fils Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots 1er Cru

The Bouchard 2005 Vosne-Romanee Les Suchots displays dark cherry and subtly meaty aromas, along with hints of spice and cocoa powder that seem to typify ripe vintages from this site. Juicy, supple and satisfying on the palate with lots of raw ripe fruit intensity and spice as well as satisfying low-toned richness, this is very fine indeed, if not in a league with the best Suchots of the vintage (and there are numerous stellar examples – including those of a surprisingly large number of negociants now sourcing from this site). Managing director Stephane Follin and cellar master Philippe Prost preside over a remarkable new, gravity-fed winemaking facility capable of handling the fruits of Bouchard’s 130 hectares of vines – Burgundy’s largest estate (with 84 hectares in premier and grand crus alone) – not to mention the enormous range of wine from purchased fruit or wines. Fully 40% of the reds are vinified in open-top fermenters with manual punch-downs (the balance in a battery of roto-fermentors) and the system of traffic control alone that must be in place during crush is hard to imagine. The underground acreage devoted to barriques similarly defies imagination – until one sees it. Prost was very cautious with pigeage this year, but incorporated a significant percentage of whole clusters with stems in many of his better lots. A reputation for improved quality is being built here to which the results of 2005 will certainly contribute. I suspect that a number of the wines I tasted had not recovered from their recent bottling, hence the number of “+?”s one sees displayed following my scores. (Wines from the Domaine are designated D on the list above.) Also recommended: 2005 Savigny-les-Beaune Les Lavieres D ($30.00; 86), 2005 Monthelie Les Duresses D ($35.00; 84), 2005 Monthelie Clos des Champs Fulliot D ($35.00; 85), 2005 Beaune 1er Cru “Beaune du Chateau” D ($45.00; 86+?), 2005 Beaune Marconnets ($35.00; 86+?), 2005 Volnay Taillepieds D ($55.00; 85+?), 2005 Pommard 1er Cru ($45.00; 84+?), 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges ($55.00; 85), 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin ($35.00; 86), 2005 Vosne-Romanee ($35.00; 85), 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Porrets St.-Georges ($55.00; 86+?), 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Damodes ($55.00; 86+?). Importer: Henriot, Inc, New York, NY

(racked in mid-October) Bright ruby-red. Liqueur-like black raspberry and cocoa powder on the nose, lifted by Oriental spices. Velvety, mouthcoating, perfumed wine with superb sappy sweetness; offers a compelling combination of lush texture, flavor precision and energy. Really saturates the palate on the back, finishing with superb lingering spicy/floral perfume.

The Bouchard 2005 Vosne-Romanee Les Suchots displays dark cherry and subtly meaty aromas, along with hints of spice and cocoa powder that seem to typify ripe vintages from this site. Juicy, supple and satisfying on the palate with lots of raw ripe fruit intensity and spice as well as satisfying low-toned richness, this is very fine indeed, if not in a league with the best Suchots of the vintage (and there are numerous stellar examples – including those of a surprisingly large number of negociants now sourcing from this site). Jun 2007, www.robertparker.com