2005 Louis Jadot Latricieres-Chambertin Grand Cru

The 2005 Latricieres-Chambertin displays fresh and lightly-cooked black cherry, fennel and licorice in the nose. A deep meatiness and pungent spiciness unite with sweet richness of fruit on the palate, leading to a staining intensity of bitter-sweet black cherry, licorice, meat juices and cassis in a full-throttle finish. This powerful wine is not about refinement or elegance but it is undeniably impressive and age worthy. (At 50% new wood, it is on the high side for this collection, but betrays no obvious oakiness. A Griotte-Chambertin was laboring too heavily under the effects of recent racking – which in the case of such an inherently mineral-dominated wine made for extreme austerity – to be fairly evaluated during my visit.) Jacques Lardiere has once again presided over a collection for the most part not intended to flatter in its youth, but rather to achieve an eventual balance of fruit acidity with (in this instance frequently quite prominent) tannin. Prolonged post-fermentative extraction promoted a formidably-structured group of wines, which Lardiere expressed no hurry about bottling. Certain of these – particularly from the Cote de Beaune – displayed a slightly drying finishing astringency or simply an austere lack of charm to match their concentration, traits Lardiere suggested might be traceable to drought stress in those sites. A brief July rain that reached the Cote de Nuits but not the Cote de Beaune was critical, he asserts, and all of Jadot’s vines in the northern Cote were picked before the harvest in the south commenced. (Wines from the Domaine Louis Jadot, Domaine Heritiers Louis Jadot, or Domaine Gagey, have been identified with a letter “D” in their listings.) Also recommended: 2005 Cote de Nuits-Villages Le Vaucrain ($25.00;86+?), 2005 Santenay Clos de Malte ($27.00; 85-87), 2005 Savigny-les-Beaune Aux Guettes (84-86+?), 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges ($37.00; 85-87+?), 2005 Chambolle-Musigny ($50.00; 85-87+?). Importer: Kobrand, Inc., New York, NY; tel.(212) 490 9300

(purchased wine from two sources) Deep ruby-red. Superripe aromas of black cherry, chocolate, licorice and game. Sweet and broad, with the rich chocolatey character following through in the mouth. In a chunky style, without the lift of Jadot's premier cru Gevreys from owned fruit.