Dinner with friends last night. We enjoyed a number of wines, but two stood out for entirely different reasons.
2004 Truchot-Martin Gevrey-Chambertin
This wine was not much darker than Steve Edmunds' Bone-Jolly Rosé, but pale color is never anything to worry about with Truchot. Admittedly I would never peg this wine as Gevrey, as it was much more elegant and perfumed than I expect from the area - violets, red cherry, strawberry and loamy earth with just the barest hint of funk. Light bodied on the palate, it carried its aromatics forward to the palate, focusing on sweet cherry with a leathery accent. It was delightful to drink, and enhanced our dining experience.
After the Truchot we went in a totally different direction to accompany rare steak:
2005 Chateau Branaire-Ducru (St. Julien)
Just the color alone was the total contrast from the Truchot. There's tons of material here, and tons of tannin to go with it. How much more black can the fruit be? None more black. But at this stage of its life, while the ultimate quality is there, it's somewhat punishing to drink. We're just at the beginning of a race between the fruit and tannins, and even at 41 I may not be young enough to find out which one wins. Because of that, while I would rank this 2005 quite highly, I have to put it behind the 2000, as I know the fruit will win that race, and do it in a timeframe that is meaningful for me. It was great to try the 2005.