2005 Maison Joseph Drouhin Beaune Les Greves 1er Cru

The Drouhin 2005 Beaune Greves sports a remarkably Cornas-like nose of bloody red meats, resin, and black cherry. Fortunately, the palate is all in the realm of Pinot, with bright, faintly tart fruit accented by bitter fruit pit as well as saline and chalky mineral notes. This packs extract without having put on weight, and boasts an incipiently silky texture that bids fair to become plusher with a few years in bottle. Stones, fruit pits, subtle but deep meatiness, and bright, refined, bell clear fruit finish the picture. I would wait 5-7 years- there’ll be no hurry to revisit this, I suspect. These 2005s were bottled around two months earlier than usual, says Frederic Drouhin, to retain freshness. (Long-time oenologue Laurence Jobard, incidentally, was replaced this year by Jerome Faure-Brac.) As is always the case, fruit from a great many properties owned or accessed by Drouhin is declassified and blended out, leaving only selected terroirs as the subjects of single-site bottlings. (In 2004, for example, even the Beaune Clos des Mouches – due to hail – was declassified into lip-smacking, remarkably soothing Cote de Beaune.) That said, as befits the quality of 2005, there were more individual bottlings from this vintage than is usual, and I did not taste all of them. (Wines from the Drouhin domaine holdings display a “D” in their listing.) This year’s collection radiates class from top to bottom. Even Drouhin’s ubiquitous, 25,000-case generic “Laforet” displays tender, ripe cherry fruit, a silky palate and iodine-like minerality. Also recommended: 2005 Bourgogne Laforet ($14.00;85). Importer: Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818 0770

Good full, bright red. Raspberry aroma accented by minerals and menthol. Fat, fine-grained and full, with a sweet cherry flavor leavened by mint. In a cooler but nicely perfumed style, with juicy cherry and menthol flavors. Finishes with solid tannic spine and lingering aromatic persistence. Comes off as a bit harder on the back today than the Clos des Chenes as there's a bit less supporting flesh here. But this is built to age.