Ripe cherry; red and black currant; beef marrow; black truffle; and well-integrated hints of caramel from barrel complexly scent the Jayer-Gilles 2007 Echezeaux du Dessus; then reunite on a silken-textured yet animated palate whose umami-rich sense of pan drippings may offend a vegetarian wine lover but set my salivary glands pumping uncontrollably and is beautifully complimented by the hint of caramelization. This hasn’t quite the resonance and energy of the 2008, but it’s even more seductive and offers a soothing as well as animating impression in its lusciously lingering finish. I suspect it will still be quite capable of seduction 15 years from now, and perhaps even for longer. Gilles Jayer did not commence harvesting is 2008 Pinots until October 1, with his Echezeaux. (In 2007, he began August 31.) With the exception of a few top parcels, he notes, triage had to be more severe in 2007 (just as in 2006) than it was in 2008, when he estimates that only 3-5% of what arrived in the press house was rejected. These 2008s evolved very slowly, in many instances retaining gaseous memoirs of their malo-lactic fermentations through the winter of 2009-2010, and not only were none of them bottled until after I last tasted them, but the Cotes de Nuits-Villages was simply not ready to be assessed. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083