Meo’s 2005 Richebourg leads with lovely, invigorating fresh black raspberry and cassis character, with saline and iodine notes. Palate-saturating and bright, this is surprisingly dominated by the very primary, juicy fresh fruit end of the spectrum and saline minerality, leading to a long, mouth-watering, if not particularly layered finish. The sense of extract and fine tannins are obvious. The wine just needs time – and even a few weeks to recover from the racking and assembling would probably have made a significant contribution to its showing today. Between the effects of drought and of localized hail (in May, before it could effect quality) Jean-Nicolas Meo reported one of his smallest-ever harvests. His production, however, is being boosted these days by a range of negociant wines under the label “Meo-Camuzet Frere et Soeur” (marked “F&S” in the listing above). The top wines had been assembled in tank and sulfured in preparation for bottling, and were suffering a bit on account of this. Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524. Also a Jean-Marie de Champs Selection (various importers), French fax 011 33 3 80 22 58 25.