2005 was the last..er..great vintage of the century when the promise of Pinot nirvana led to fetishistic credit card bashing. Prices seemed daunting at the time, now they’re just the realm of the very rich. Time to start opening the trophies then! The colour of this is still a deepish red and opens up quickly with clean, almost new world scents of very ripe wild strawberries and deluxe oak. More Burgundian are the scents of sweet earth and a well maintained farmyard. The flavours again suggest strict clean making with pure red fruit and spice that sit well in the middle but don’t quite have that drive and finish of the best despite some more typically old world fine acid and emery board tannin. There’s that luxury oak too which is almost a sort of terroir thing for Burgundians. Close to great forests and barrel makers, they’re probably the best exponents of adding oak flavours that just work so well. Pretty rare occurrence for those of us who normally think tree flavours a curse! Lovely, safely made modern Pinot but perhaps not quite the electricity of the best Burgundy.
13.50% alcohol. Cork. Under a hundred once upon a time.
93 points.
Cognitive Bottle Therapy 