Anne’s Comments
The winter was rather cold and dry until mid-March resulting in a late bud break around April 25. Then we benefited an exceptionally hot month of May giving impressive boosts to the vines’ growth.
Flowering took place around June 10, predicting a fairly early vintage. Even though July was a little chilly, grapes matured well in August. The fact there wasn’t so many rain during the vegetation cycle helped us to work (ploughing and treatments) but some vines began to show water deficiencies hopefully without any blockage of maturity.
We harvested from September 17 to 25 without any rush, taking advantage of the excellent climatic conditions. The quality of grapes and work along the year was ideal that led us to wonderful wines (white and red).
Red wines are colourful, full and silky without any dominance of fruit or spice. All the elements are integrated with great class. Nothing more to say…
White wines took their time to ferment to develop a most complex dimension of freshness and fruitiness.
journalists’ Comments
Jancis Robinson – Janvier 2007
The no-nonsense Anne Gros is clearly just! as fascinated by her humbler appellation as by the Grands Crus she has been lucky enough to inherit. Her new winery seems to be working well. She habitually picks quite early and likes her wines to be “not big but graceful. Alcoholic strength is never my aim and l really don’t like overripeness”. She will be making an Echezeaux from 2007. She’s part of a BIVB (gcneric committee) trial of screwcaps for some of her Hautes-côtes wine and is also expcrimcnting with the larger demi-muid barrel size. UK: Laytons, Adnams. Howard Ripley; US: North Berkeley, Atherton, Skurnik.
Cuvée Marine 2005 Hautes -Côtes de Nuits Blanc
16.5+ Drink 2008-12
Anne Gros offers offers this stoppered by a posh version of a screwcap. The cuvée is named after the ammonites and other marine fossils found in this vineyard, and after her daughter as it turned out. Rich and nervy, extremely mineral, on the nose. Very exciting, tense nose. Quince, tight, chewy. This should age well although it certainly isn’t flattering to teste at the moment, Pretty dry and taut on the finish.
Bourgogne Blanc 2005
16 drink 2009-1 1
Creamy textured and very lively. Tense and slightly wet woolly. Fine though I don’t really see that it belong in a primeur offer. Bit astringent.
f 133.50 Lea & Sandeman
Hautes-côtes de Nuits Rouge 2005
15.5 Drink 2009-12
The no-nonsense, readily-laughing Anne Gros describes this as “my last baby” although she planted the vines as long ago as 1998. The site is relatively low for the Hautes-Côtes, just above the village of Vosne. Bright and transparent chrery red colour. Very fresh, frank fruit flavours. Light lively and gassy when I tasted it in December. Still a bit think hard and tart – perhaps it will take on body in bottle and/or as the vines age.
Bourgogne Rouge 2005
16.5 Drink 2007-10 A blend of three parcels with an average vine age of 20 years between Nuits and Vosne. Notably beefy, full and rich. Lots of acidity and freshhtness but real bite and smoothemess 1000. Bitter cherry flavours. Zesty, full with excellent texture. This could be a great buy.
Chambolle-Musigny 2005
16.5+ Drink 2008-13
Relatively pale crimson. Very fresh, direct and positive with considerable charm already. Open, quite light and easy. Dances and sings but no great density. Dry finish, Quite delicate. This is real palate sharpener.
Vosne-Romanée 2005
17 dit 2010-16
Deep crimson. Zesty with lots of substance and stuffing, plus particularly crunchy, taffetta texture. This captures the racy essence of Vosne. Stil quite chewy.
Clos -Vougeot Grand Cru 2005
17 des 201 1-21
Extremely linear and carefully delineated. Fresh and firm rather than sweet and flashy without the density of Leroy’s rendition but hugely superior to must wines selling under this name. Precisely sculpted and fine. Needs a fair amount of time.
Richebourg Grand Cru 2005
18 Drink 2010-25
Notably healthy colour and lots of lovely crackling fruit. Dry finish with some bitterness, almost quinine on the finish, and vigour. Very fine. These Anne Gros wines are very much not fruit bombs, but confidently chiseled, beautifully balanced expressions of place. Very pure and unadorned and I would expect it to take on flesh although it will surely always be very fine-boned.
The new zealand herald
Bourgogne Rouge 2005
This pinot noir from the grape’sheartland of Burgundy fells like cool silk as it runs across the palate, unfurling to reveal its wonderfully fresh and pure red fruit, threads of spice and savoury notes. Made by a producer that’s impressed me a lot of late from a stellar vintage. From Glengarry.
Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar mars/avril 2007
Anne Gros described 2005 as “the easiest year I have ever had, in terms of the work in the vines, the growing season itself, the health of the vines and the vinification. The wines are freshthanks to excellent acidity. There’s a good grain to the tannins; they’renot the austere wines of a dry year. Everything is in balance.” Anne Gros did a fairly short 12 day cuvaison in 2005, following her longest cuvaison to date in 2004. She never exceeds 32C. for the fermentation and sometimes the maximum is more like 30C.
Chambolle Musigny La Combre d’Orveau 2005 87-89
Medium cherry red color, classic chambolle aromas of raspberry, flowers and stone. Supple, juicy and fruit-driven, with noteworthy purity to the flavors of red fruits, flowers and spices. Good integrated acidity gives shape and verve to this enticing fruit bomb. Finishes with soft, fine tannins. Anne Gros reports that she had a good healthy crop level here about 43 hectoliters per hectare.
Vosne Romanée Les Barreaux 2005 89-91
Bright ruby red. Pungent, nuanced nose combines black raspberry, cherry, flowers, spices, minerals and dark chocolate. Lush but fresh and sappy, with plenty of material for agieng. The wine’s firm tannic structure suggests it will need six or seven years of bottle aging. Potentially outstanding. I tasted this and the Chambolle from stainlesse steel tank.
Clos Vougeot Le Grand Maupertui 2005 91-94
Bright red ruby. Slightly medicinal aromasof black cherry and minerals. Big, rich, chewy and strong. This boasts a lovely penetrating sweetness but is quite unforthcoming today. Tannins are substantial and ripe. Still a baby and a bit hard to fathom today.
Richebourg 2005 93-95
Good bright ruby red. Glorious red fruit aromas complicated by violet and minerals. Boasts compelling breadth and purity of floral red and darker fruit flavors without any impression of weight. Much more scented and expressive toady in the middle palate than the Clos Vougeot, but with the structure to support long aging. this really saturates the palate with flavor.Finishes with noteworthy power and breadth for a wine from this address.
Clive Coates
Clos Vougeot 2005 : medium-full colour. Still youthful. Very lovely nose.Concentrated, precise, very complex, very classy. Medium-full body. Fresh and succulent. Composed and subtle. Long and profound. Very concentrated. Excellent.
Richebourg 2005 : Fullish volour. Much more closed in than the above. Splendly concentrated, aristocratic fruit. Fullish body. Still some tannin to resolve. A really profound, muti dimensional wine. Splendid energy and marvelous class. Magnificent!
VINTAGES