A 2005 Pommard Les Cras (from old vines in a low-lying site on the Volnay line) offers a somewhat somber, sedate, but undeniably concentrated personality, featuring bitter black fruits, wet stone and roasted meat. Substantial if rather foursquare, this would certainly age for a half dozen or more years, and perhaps loosen up and acquire some nuance in the process. Also recommended: 2005 Bourgogne (85), 2005 Santenay Clos Faubard (86).Much of this substantial estate’s acreage has been reclaimed by Claude and Herve Muzard from negociant commitments over the last dozen years. The wines of Santenay typically exhibit distinctly meaty and mineral personalities rather than prominent fruits and berries, and they can tend toward rusticity of tannin, all of which – in addition to their outlying location south of the white wine center of the Cote de Beaune – has contributed to an undeserved degree of neglect. The best wines at this address offer welcome value. Much of Santenay was badly hailed-on in July, 2005, but the Muzards have a vibrating sorting-table and took great pains to remove any tainted fruit that had not already fallen to the ground.Importer: Vintage 59, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 966 9812.