Coming largely from a nose-bleed section of Morey (just south of Mont Luisants), the Lecheneauts’ 2005 Morey-St.-Denis displays black cherry tinged with smoky and alkaline notes in the nose. Bright cherry and raspberry fruit atop a rich, rather sedate base of marrow-rich meat stock, all subtly seasoned with brown spices lead to a long finish for a village-level wine. A few splinters of new wood threaten to lodge themselves but are loosened by waves of fruity, brothy concentrate. The Lecheneaut brothers – Vincent and Philippe – were still hoping to get the last of two wines (a Chorey-les-Beaune and one of two lots of village Nuits-St.-Georges, the final blend of which, while promising, could therefore not be fairly assessed) to go through malo at the time of my visit. But other than that, things were looking delicious indeed in this cellar. Alcohol levels came in almost shockingly low given the ripeness of flavors on display (in fact, the brothers chaptalized a bit to extend the fermentations) and most but not all of the wines had the requisite concentration to resist any obvious marking by their 50-100% of new oak. These are forward, early-flattering, often positively flamboyant wines for the vintage. The samples I tasted had been drawn in proper proportion just prior to their having been racked and assembled for bottling (which was imminent). Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083.

Coming largely from a nose-bleed section of Morey (just south of Mont Luisants), the Lecheneauts’ 2005 Morey-St.-Denis displays black cherry tinged with smoky and alkaline notes in the nose. Bright cherry and raspberry fruit atop a rich, rather sedate base of marrow-rich meat stock, all subtly seasoned with brown spices lead to a long finish for a village-level wine. A few splinters of new wood threaten to lodge themselves but are loosened by waves of fruity, brothy concentrate. The Lecheneaut brothers – Vincent and Philippe – were still hoping to get the last of two wines (a Chorey-les-Beaune and one of two lots of village Nuits-St.-Georges, the final blend of which, while promising, could therefore not be fairly assessed) to go through malo at the time of my visit. But other than that, things were looking delicious indeed in this cellar. Alcohol levels came in almost shockingly low given the ripeness of flavors on display (in fact, the brothers chaptalized a bit to extend the fermentations) and most but not all of the wines had the requisite concentration to resist any obvious marking by their 50-100% of new oak. These are forward, early-flattering, often positively flamboyant wines for the vintage. The samples I tasted had been drawn in proper proportion just prior to their having been racked and assembled for bottling (which was imminent).Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083.