Meo’s 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Aux Murgers marks the transition to wines I tasted from tank. Displaying beautiful, pure cassis fruit with adjuncts of pralines, sage oil, and sea salt, dense and marrowy in the mouth, it finishes with intense cassis, roasted meat, and subtle chalk and salt minerality. The tannins are extremely refined and the overall impression is one of fine, long, athletically lean Pinot that will go a distance of 10-12 years with ease. And had it not been recently racked and sulfured, I suspect this would be a bit less lean in impression. 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.