Grapelive Wine of the Day
By Kerry Winslow
***
2009 Domaine Philippe Pacalet Gevrey-Chambertin, Red Burgundy.
One of the underground stars of Burgundy Pacalet makes a wonderfully crafted wine with glorious silky rich textures and focused fruit that seems so vivid and pure in essence. I heard he uses partial carbonic fermentations and organic low yielding grapes, and from what I tasted of his 2009 village wines nothing seems to out of place, even if I didn’t care for his Chambolle, it may have been an off bottle, I loved his Nuits-St.-Georges and Pommard wines, but it was the 2009 Gevrey-Chambertin that lit up my day the most. This why we wine geeks love Burgundy, no question this wine is a class act and it has an extra degree of sexiness that is so compelling it begs to be tasted again and again. The nose is refined and slightly subtle with hints of rose petals, violets and a whiff of smoke and earth before a round palate of cherry, plum and strawberry fruits while chalky minerals, truffle and tea spices play in the background. The oak proves only to fame the bright and lively fruit and giving a slight vanilla and baking spice touch that is just the right amount. This wine should continue to gain in depth and complexity over the next few years in bottle, but I shouldn’t think you’d want to cellar it away for very long, especially as it is so tasty already. The price might be a tad high for quaffing pleasure, but the detail and care of the wine growing and winemaking make it still worth grabbing some. Thanks to Farm Wines for allowing me to taste this gem.
($85 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive
***