2015 - Vosne-Romanee Aux Reas, Thibault Liger-Belair

(80% new oak; 100% destemmed, as usual here): Deep red-ruby. Reduced nose melds black raspberry, wild strawberry and sexy oak tones, all lifted by a chalky note. Combines good density with lovely precision, with the raspberry and red licorice flavors framed on the end by substantial but even tannins. Classy and persistent--and a serious outperformer for village wine.

The 2015 Vosne-Romanée Aux Réas suffered a little more oïdium during the growing season and so Thibault used a little more SO2, ergo the wine tends to be more reduced. It is matured in 100% new oak, the first time that this has been done. That new oak does translate across onto the aromatics, which coupled with the reduction, made it difficult to read the terroir expression. The palate is sweet and candied on the entry with orange zest and tangerine infusing the red berry fruit, here the oak more assimilated than on the nose. Hopefully the aromatics will absorb the new oak, because the palate suggests good potential.

Cask sample. Lots of sulphur. Black fruit and smoke underneath, with an attractive meatiness, but this is by no means a finished wine, so this is only a putative score. (RH)