With a salty, smoky, sweaty overlay to its nose of concentrated, dried black fruits, the Clos Rougeard 2003 Saumur-Champigny Les Poyeux certainly reflects its vintage. But the Foucaults suggest that holding off until the end of September to harvest – thus, “only” around two weeks earlier than normal – was critical to success, and certainly the creamy-textured, nut paste and black fruit preserve-flavored palate exhibits less abrasiveness and considerably more sheer juiciness than many an ‘03. Lovely inner-mouth florals, high-toned cherry almond, and piquant nuttiness of finish draw attention away from the tannins and inform an impressively long finish. This appears to need 5-7 years in the cellar, but I think it’s hard to predict the maturation of wines from this freakish vintage, even those from so talented a crew as this. Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 334-8191