Duboeuf’s flower label “selection” Fleurie may have been suffering a bit from its recent bottling when I tasted it, and the corresponding 2009 Fleurie Clos des Garants – from the stony core of that excellent site on the eastern edge of its appellation, toward Moulin-a-Vent – was slightly reduced and rough. Scents of ripe blueberry and blackberry with overtones of wood smoke and smoked meat usher in a palate of surprising graininess and a hint of heat, which detract from an otherwise juicy fruit prominence. This certainly grips, with notes of bacon and toasted nuts accenting the berries. It will be a wine to revisit after bottling and a post-bottling rest. The vast and on the whole stylistically consistent range of Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais bottlings – a majority issuing from individual domaines – represents a reliable source of value, and this has seldom been more true (nor has the range – most, but not all of which, I tasted – been more vast) than from 2009, which it is clear Duboeuf considers as fine a vintage as he has witnessed – although he notes, “It was very difficult this year to choose the date of bottling,” and many wines were still in tank awaiting that decision when I tasted in April. I continue to find as a general rule that Duboeuf’s wines are best drunk within two years of bottling, so in my notes I have made reference to aging potential only for any wines that I expect might be exceptions to that rule of thumb. (Wines identified solely by their appellation are so-called “Selections Georges Duboeuf” cuvees, labeled with his company’s signature flower labels. There are Regnie and Chenas selection bottlings that I did not taste, the latter being the sole bottling of its appellation this vintage, due to the ravages of hail.)Importer: William Deutsch & Son Ltd., White Plains, NY; tel. (914) 251-9463