2005 Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg Vosne-Romanée

The 2005 Vosne Romanee (assembled in tank at the time I tasted) displays fresh black raspberry, ginger snap, cinnamon, and fetching florality on the nose, a silken palate of winsome purity and freshness, and a finish of great refinement that mingles marrow and anise with black raspberry and brown spices. One can expect to begin enjoying this wine almost immediately but for it to take on further complexity for as long as 10-12 years. The Mugneret sisters (I take the liberty of heading this report with what is about to become their official, unified domaine name) have rendered a 2005 collection illustrating the chiseled-precision, complexity, refinement and restraint for which their wines are famous. They were still trying to coax their Bourgogne through malo at the time of my visit incidentally, and it was too gaseous to properly assess (although it showed very promisingly pre-malo). A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93.

Good deep red-ruby. Spicy dark berries, minerals, licorice and spicy oak, along with a minty nuance, on the fresh, pungent nose; there's a coolness here. Juicy and brisk, even a bit youthfully tough, with the wine's structure currently dominating. Very sharply delineated. Seems a bit oaky but just 30% new wood was used. This may still have a trace of malic acidity.