2009 Gevrey Chambertin Lavaux St Jacques

The 2009 Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux St. Jacques presents a somewhat wild personality I don’t usually associate with this vineyard. Ferrous, animal notes lead to a rich core of textured fruit. This shows terrific vibrancy and enough textural finesse to almost overcome some rough edges that never completely dissipate. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2027. These wines from proprietor Mounir Saouma are impressive. Saouma sources small lots of wine from the best sites in Burgundy and does all of the post-alcoholic fermentation elevage in his cellar in Beaune. Saouma’s approach calls for long, slow malos, extended contact on the gross lees and no fining or filtration prior to bottling. Saouma bottles an eye-popping 60 different wines, some sourced from more than one grower. Count me as a fervent believer in terroir. As much as I subscribe to the belief that specific plots of land can confer unique qualities to wines, the reality is that a variety of other factors are just as important, including the talent of the winemaker and the ambient qualities of the cellars in which wines are raised. What amazes me most about these wines – aside from the obviously very high quality – is that there is without question a distinctive house style that emerges across the range, despite the fact that they come from different sources and are acquired as wine rather than fruit. Saouma likes to describe his cellar as a library of Burgundy’s finest terroirs. That’s as good a description as any for these uniformly outstanding, compelling wines. Importer: Vintus LLC, Pleasantville, NY; tel. (914) 769-3000, Atherton Imports, Menlo Park, CA; tel. (650) 328-6639

Good medium red. Aromas of wild black raspberry, white pepper, leather and fresh blood show a noble rusticity. Then less animal in the mouth, displaying penetrating, sweet-yet-cool flavors of blue and black fruits complemented by smoke and earth. Very fresh but a bit youthfully tough. Finishes with substantial tannins and a suggestion of dark chocolate. I may be underrating this.