The Potel 2005 Vosne-Romanee Les Gaudichots offers a nose of cherry, red raspberry and spice box. Cinnamon and white pepper are among those that hitch a ride on the creamy palate, where intensely ripe, sweet red fruits, raw meat, and suggestions of caramelized root vegetables expand to fill all recesses of the mouth. Concentrated and complex manifestations of meat, roasted root vegetables, and mineral along with distilled red fruit suggestions inform the superbly long, multi-registered finish. Amazingly, there are three whole barrels of this. Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700.

Bright red-ruby. Perfumed, high-pitched aromas of raspberry and minerals show an almost liqueur-like quality without losing verve. Suave on entry, then bracing and stylish in the middle, with powerfully sappy dark fruit, smoke and mineral flavors framed by juicy acidity. Youthfully backward today but mounts slowly and impressively, finishing with a whiplash of flavor accented by an almost peppery impression of extract. Serious, structured, very young wine with a long life ahead of it.