As I've written before, the 2005 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru from Dugat-Py is already very expressive, bursting from the glass with notes of cherries, wild berries, dark chocolate, licorice, espresso roast and rich soil tones. Full-bodied, layered and concentrated, it's broad and textural, with an ample core of fruit and a long, sapid finish.

Collectively, Bernard Dugat’s 2005 grand cru collection -- likely to be bottled in late Spring -- represents a remarkable achievement. From vines of mixed age (one third of them in Mazoyeres), the 2005 Charmes-Chambertin (of which there will be around 175 cases) is remarkable for its polish and creaminess of texture yet at the same time freshness of pure, palate-staining fruit. Red and black currant are wreathed in musky flowers and laced with walnut oil, orange liqueur, ineffable spices, licorice, salt and chalk. The subtlety and mystery of flavors and texture and sheer length on exhibit will leave you shaking your head. (Dugat’s 2004 Charmes, incidentally, offered a clarity, palate-staining intensity and ageworthiness that few red Burgundies of that vintage can match.) It should be atwenty-year wine. Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800.