Volnay Clos des Chenes, Domaine Michel Lafarge 2005

This brooding effort continues to evolve slowly but surely with its beautifully elegant and highly complex nose of extract of dark berry fruit that is just now displaying some hints of secondary fruit and lovely complexity. The big-bodied, serious and robust flavors are still moderately firm and impressively concentrated, all wrapped in a palate drenching finish where the copious dry extract imparts a velvety texture to the strikingly long finale where the only nit is a hint of warmth. While this is not so tight and structured that it could not be enjoyed now, at least with 30 minutes or so of air, it would not surprise me if this turned out to be a 50+ year wine. Tasted four times since release with consistent notes. (Drink starting 2027)

Dense bright youthful red, more like a five year old than approaching 15. The nose too suggests immense power, without being clumsy, but the tannins are certainly still very present on the palate. Its just a question of time because there is such a volume of dark youthful fruit which will start to take over in another 10 to 15 years. When open for 90 minutes the bouquet has completely changed direction and become explosively rich. Immense weight here, my opinion that this is a truly great vintage is reinforced!

A beautifully elegant and highly complex nose of extract of dark berry fruit that is both elegant and complex serves as a dramatic introduction to the big-bodied, indeed even robust flavors that are firm, dense and incredibly concentrated, all wrapped in a palate drenching finish that just oozes dry extract and gives a velvety texture to the unbelievably long finale. This is a wonderfully gifted wine that has everything it needs to age gracefully for multiple decades and it will need 12 to 15 years in a cool cellar to really hit its stride. This too is one of those 'wow' wines.

Unusually for this wine, the nose is every bit as elegant and complex as the Caillerets but with yet another dimension to the big-bodied, indeed even robust flavors that are firm, dense and incredibly concentrated, all wrapped in a palate drenching finish that just oozes dry extract and gives a velvety texture to the unbelievably long finale. This is a wonderfully gifted wine that has everything it needs to age gracefully for multiple decades and it will need 12 to 15 years in a cool cellar to really hit its stride. This too is one of those 'wow' wines. Drink 2017+