Good dark red but not as ruby as in some past very ripe years. Initially a bit stunted, even fermentative, on the nose, this wine opened with air to show much more precise notes of small wild red and purple fruits, licorice pastille and lavender. The very pure, sweet purple fruits are lifted on the palate by lavender and violet notes but this is stubbornly backward today, like a blueprint for a great Burgundy. Penetrating minerality and firm acidity should give this very stylish, utterly seamless wine a long future, but will it ever show the sweetness of the Griottes?

| Stephen Tanzer