I opened the 1954 Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens for a good friend born in that vintage, thinking that if anyone could fashion a drinkable wine in that challenging year, it would be Gaunoux. I wasn't mistaken, because the wine exceeded even our most optimistic expectations, wafting from the glass with a lovely bouquet of orange rind, dried berries, plummy fruit tones, Egyptian musk, loamy soil and black truffle. Medium to full-bodied, ample and satiny, with a layered and enveloping core of fruit, melting tannins, lively acids and a long, sapid finish, it showed no signs of tiring. Sourced from a cold Burgundian cellar, it also demonstrates the importance of perfect provenance.