2005 Domaine Robert Arnoux Vosne-Romanée Les Hautes Maizieres

The 2005 Vosne Romanee Les Hautes Mazieres – from 50-year-old vines just below the Quartiers de Nuits portion of Echezeaux, a stone’s throw from Clos Vougeot – displays herb, spice and floral complexities to go along with the ripe black fruits in its bouquet. In the mouth, this offers decadent meatiness, sappy fresh fruit and a bright finish. Also recommended: 2005 Bourgogne (85). Pascal Lachaux (the late Robert Arnoux’s son-in-law, who has been in charge here now for nearly two decades) had just bottled his 2005 collection – vinified in his superb, recently-completed, gravity-fed facilities – when I visited. Lachaux compares the proper watchword of the winemaker in a vintage with Pinot as healthy and naturally-concentrated as in 2005, to that of a chef confronted with a perfect piece of fish: restraint. That also describes the results he has achieved in bottle, although allowance should be made for the possibility that the expression of certain wines was restrained by their recent bottling. mporter: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990.