The pure, creamy, refined Dugat 2005 Charmes Chambertin smells of cherry and black raspberry preserves along with herbal and almond extracts, stirs dark, faintly bitter notes of black chocolate and chalk dust into the pool of ripe black fruit that spreads out on the palate, and finishes with more polish, glycerin-richness, and refinement, if less savage intensity or grip than this year’s Lavaux.
Known for his low yields and intensely concentrated Pinots (all but the Bourgogne raised in new barrels), Claude Dugat – with the increasing involvement of his son Bertrand – has rendered a formidable 2005 collection that makes no concessions to early charm.
Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083.