2015 - Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts, Sylvain Cathiard

The 2015 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts has just a little less new oak than the Les Suchots this year. The aromatics are more backward and recalcitrant than the Les Suchots and demanded more coaxing from the glass. There is a sense of depth to the fruit, almost an opacity that suggests the fruit will only gradually open up. It was difficult wrenching your nose away from the glass! The palate is beautifully balanced with succulent fleshy tannin, voluminous in the mouth with immense concentration counterbalanced by a keen line of acidity. Very persistent in the mouth, this will be immense once in bottle. Cellar for as long as you can.

Bright, dark red with ruby tones. Aromas of black fruits, crushed stone and violet. Sweet and densely packed, with highly concentrated flavors of blackberry, cassis, licorice and violet supported by a firm spine of acidity and tannins. At once powerful and sharply chiseled, this beauty spreads out on the back end to saturate the entire mouth with crunchy fruit. One of the two barrels only finished its malolactic fermentation at the end of October and still showed a trace of lees.

Deep crimson. Scented, sweet nose – very rich and concentrated! Sweet start and then well-behaved tannins that became a bit aggressive on the very end. Obviously the raw ingredients were hugely superior but the treatment looks a little brutal at present. (JR)