The 2009 Vosne Romanee Aux Brulees opens with a beguiling, exotic bouquet redolent of sweet baking spices, star anise, orange peel, iron and smoke. With time in the glass layers of dark fruit begin to emerge, melding seamlessly with the aromatics and tannin. The perception of structure is present, but buried under a wall of fruit. The Brulees starts to close in on itself rather quickly suggesting it is headed for a period of dormancy, but it is breathtaking in every way. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2039. This was my first opportunity to taste the 2009s from Domaine Leroy in bottle. Lalou Bize-Leroy was among the first, if not the first, to bottle her 2009s, so she naturally wanted to give the wines some time to recover before showing them. The wines are stunning. Readers who have an opportunity to taste them should not hesitate. As always, the style is one of textural richness and depth, but the2009s appear to have excellent underlying material as well. The attention to every detail at the Domaine is quite evident in these thrilling wines. My visit ended with a sample of the 2010 Chambertin from barrel. Why not go straight to the top? If that wine is representative of the year, Leroy fans will have another superb vintage to look forward to, although yields will be lower than the already minuscule production. Importer: Martine’s Wines. Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-040