On May 13th, the Sons of Bacchus (SOB's) assembled once again for a tasting of Premier Cru Red Burgundies, 2005 and older. This time, it was held at our new home south of Walla Walla. There were eight wines in two flights of four ("short and sweet").

The top three wines were 2005's, from an excellent year in the Cote d'Or. Here are my notes:

2005 Gevrey-Chambertin, 1er Cru, Le Poissenet, Domaine Denis Morlet - This comes from a tiny vineyard on the outskirts of the appellation. It showed a deep ruby/garnet color and exuded oriental perfumes along with elegant, mouth encompassing flavors with a lengthy maturing finish that the Burgundians call "velours."

2005 Gevrey-Chambertin "Mes Cinq Terroirs," Domaine Denis Morlet - As the name suggests, this comes from five small parcels of vineyards around Gevrey. It displayed a deep ruby color and a lovely violet-scented nose. The flavors were bright and cherry-like and somewhat atypical for Burgundy.

2005 Le Corton, Grand Cru, Bouchard Pere & Fils - This wine showed a medium garnet color and a well developed nose of orange peel and exotic perfumes. The flavors were deep and full, with a bit of the rustic character of the vineyards surrounding the Bois de Corton.

There were a couple of ringers which stood out as such. One wine, which I mistook for Tempranillo, turned out to be a 2008 EIEO Pinot Noir from Carleton, Oregon. Its straightforward character was quite different from the Burgundies. The other was a 2006 Domino de Atatula Ribera del Duero, a thick, licorice-laced wine that also stood out as being different.