Joseph Drouhin, Musigny Grand Cru 2005

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Reviewed by: David Schildknecht

The 2005 Musigny offers a compellingly complex nose of black raspberry, plum, cranberry, maraschino, truffle, flowers, raw meat, peat, and wet stone. Fabulously mouth-coating, with a plush, creamy texture, its tannins entirely sublimated, this finishes with soaring lift and uncanny clarity and refinement of flavor, incorporating a floral dimension almost as vivid as that accruing to this year’s Clos de Beze. These 2005s were bottled around two months earlier than usual, says Frederic Drouhin, to retain freshness. (Long-time oenologue Laurence Jobard, incidentally, was replaced this year by Jerome Faure-Brac.) As is always the case, fruit from a great many properties owned or accessed by Drouhin is declassified and blended out, leaving only selected terroirs as the subjects of single-site bottlings. (In 2004, for example, even the Beaune Clos des Mouches – due to hail – was declassified into lip-smacking, remarkably soothing Cote de Beaune.) That said, as befits the quality of 2005, there were more individual bottlings from this vintage than is usual, and I did not taste all of them. (Wines from the Drouhin domaine holdings display a “D” in their listing.) This year’s collection radiates class from top to bottom. Even Drouhin’s ubiquitous, 25,000-case generic “Laforet” displays tender, ripe cherry fruit, a silky palate and iodine-like minerality. Also recommended: 2005 Bourgogne Laforet ($14.00;85). Importer: Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818 0770