2005 Harmand-Geoffroy Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux St. Jacques 1er Cru
Dried flowers with a mildly sweet perfume, warm rocks and deep earthy red/black fruit notes accompanied by subtle baking spice. Some underlying beef stock with a trace of horsehair. It just keeps drawing you back for another sniff. The attack is very bright, hard edged and tight, fairly shut down. Surprising considering how expressive the nose is. Lots of structure and a healthy shot of gritty tannins. After 30 minutes…the palate slowly starts to open with mild herbs and nicely integrated mature fruit that intensifies with air. This will taste considerably better in a few hours, or maybe tomorrow. Hopefully the aromatics stick around. No harm cellaring another 5+ years.
Night 2. The nose isn’t what it was but the flavors have joined the party. Quite a bit of secondary laced fruit. Open for business. There’s an enjoyable gaminess that registers well below my Brett tolerance. It’s going to take some willpower to leave enough for dinner.