On the nose, the white ash of a burned-out fire, with green raspberry fruit, and herbal and slight barnyard notes, and a breath of florality.

It is a lovely light-medium weight in the mouth and on the palate the wine has a beautiful warmth and an elegant, soft silkiness. Any tannins that were once present have softened completely.

The wine starts with a mouthful of wet white ash earthyness, but the midpalate is where the wine stars, with fruit reminiscent of older burgundy and an earthy sweetness that kicks in leading to a finish leaves no doubt its Cabernet Franc - a perfect partner to a falafel tabouleh sandwich.

Drink now!

On Friday night Ian came into the back office and declared "I'm going to open my '04 Chave Hermitage Rouge" I advised against opening the bottle arguing that it would be a waste. The wine was way too young and would probably be shut down. I have had examples of mature Chave and patience is definitely rewarded. The bottle was a gift and for those of us who are lucky enough to work in the industry if you don't pay for the bottle you rarely feel guilt about cracking the bottle. Ian shrugged off my pleas for him to not make any rash moves. It was popped, poured into a decanter and off we went.

I could not wait to be cynical and jaded. I knew the wine would be closed and I could say "see I told you so, you should have waited" with great satisfaction. I can be a childish about these sort of things. At least I thought we could have opened it, given it more air time and maybe had it with a giant lamb shank.

But I couldn't be cynical, even with the depressingly bad weather of February. I poured myself a healthy glass and hide in the back office. The perfume was instantly satisfying and I knew that my tail would be between my legs for ever protesting. The nose within ten minutes was appealing and had all the signs of being terrific Syrah. Notes of cassis, black olive, anise, white pepper and minerals. The fruit was very pretty and elegant with great balancing acidity. I was shocked how lovely it was. This wine really should have been backward and austere. It had great balance and concentration, some said almost Cali like but I think it was more retrained then most Cali Syrahs. The structure was certainly present but it was integrated with the fruit quite well for being so young. And oh the minerals. An extremely well put together wine and a great example of why Chave is the king of Hermitage. The only question is, how much better will this get? Probably a lot, but who cares, it was darn tasty Friday night. Thanks Ian for sharing the bottle with all of us.

If cracking bottles '04 Chave for no reason seems a bit silly and frivolous you can always pick up a bottle Texier CDR or Edmunds St. John Syrah. Both are delicious, elegant examples of what highly perfumed Syrah can be like. And both are around the $30 price point so no guilty feeling or angry partner in the morning. Cheers all!

Didier Dagueneau is a visionary: For the last 12 years, he has sought to improve the reputation of authentic Pouilly-Fumé throughout the world by breaking the rules.

A staunch critic of overproduction, he cultivates only 11.5 hectares (about 1.5x the size of Central Park's Great Lawn) biodynamically and sparing no expense. One vintage he went so far as to publish photocopies of the invoices for the pickers who hand-harvested his vineyards.

align=right>
Edmund Vatan is thought of in many circles as the single greatest producer in Sancerre, tenderly fashioning a minute amount of wine that is renowned for its purity, depth, expression of terroir, and surprisingly for Sancerre, profound ageability. His masterpiece in Sancerre has been on the list at restaurant Taillevent in Paris for over 40 years.

Sadly, according to our sources, nearly 60 years after he planted his vines in Sancerre's most heralded vineyard, Monts Damnés (see sidebar), the Sage of Sancerre has decided to throw in the towel. This might be the last batch of his wine that ever reaches the public...

2,500 years ago, the first vines were planted in Bandol, making it one of the oldest vineyards in France. In the years since, the region nestled into the hills a hop, skip and jump away from the Mediterranean has kept mostly quiet on the world market, while the most wine savvy have recognized Bandol as one of the most noble wine regions in the world.

Mourvèdre, the star grape of the show in Bandol, responds best to plenty of sun and warm weather bookended by cool nights to achieve proper ripeness, conditions which describe Provence perfectly. The grape also particularly likes limestone soil, which is mixed with silicon in this unique little microclimate.

The red wines of Bandol are known for their brooding tannins, earthy, herbal, smoky notes and their distinct sense of wildness. In youth, they deserve a hefty decant, but they're really at their best with age. The 2004 Pradeaux has, at the least, another decade in it and deserves a spot in the well-rounded cellar.

To my mind, the reference point Hermitage is from Jean-Louis Chave. If I were to own only one producer, he would be it. His legendary wines are, without a doubt, the most collectible bottlings from the appellation (the ultra-low production 2003 is currently trading between $600-900/btl, if you can find it).

The wine is sought out year after year due to its consistency, greatness, and scarcity. The Chave family's uncanny ability to turn out great Hermitage for the last half-century has been absolutely unmatched.

In the great 2001 vintage, Chave produced yet another masterpiece - a textbook, traditionally crafted Hermitage, now selling for $200-$300 per bottle.

Enter: Betts & Scholl

With all the hype around 05 Burgundy and the troubles of the 04 growing season it's very easy to overlook the vintage. However if you have any regard for putting the kids through college or paying NYC rent, 2004 suddenly becomes more appealing. You have to tread carefully while exploring 04 Burgundy because many of the wines are showing poorly now and some may never come into their own. I have been disappointed with many Grand Cru wines from 04, even with the vintage's pricing considered.

So when Ian asked me if we should open this bottle I was not surprisingly jaded and cynical saying "sure" but assumed it would be another 04 that was dilute, green and out of whack. But in classic Burgundy style just when you think you understand the wines of a vintage a wine will slap you in the face and say, "You don't know me!" The wine was opened and poured into a decanter and drank over about an hour.

The nose was very perfumed and expressive right from the start. There was that 04 greenness but it was more herbal and peppercorn rather then bell pepper, which I can not stand in red Burgundy. The nose continued to open up with more spiciness and some wonderful tart red fruit and lead notes. On the palate there is no doubt that this is a Grand Cru wine as it had great weight and wonderful acidity. This was showing quite well for its age however I think in around six to twelve years the wine will be peaking. The balance is quite impressive especially when you consider that Bruno Clair commented about how difficult the summer and vintage overall was saying, "There was oidium, hail and wet, damp weather with limited luminosity. You had to be very vigilant because otherwise, you had serious problems. And you absolutely had to harvest late because if not, your levels of phenolic ripeness were just too limited to make really good wines."

After all that you would think it would be hard to produce jug wine let alone a respectable Grand Cru. Making great wine in 05 was easy, making simply good wine in 04 took sweat and tears. While I love my 05 burgundies and all their glory, I appreciate all the long days and hard work that had to be done in the vineyard to make this very good 04 Clos de Beze. Cheers Bruno!

"The charm of the Jura and its wines come from the sense that time has grown genuinely mossy and amnesiac here. Small vineyards, old vines, curious grape varieties seen and tasted nowhere else, vinification methods that would be regarded as obtuse or mad by the oenological conformists who pass judgment at international wine shows. If you are one of those people who long to escape from the shallowness and tedium of wine fashion, then the Jura is for you." Andrew Jefford, The New France

France's Jura is truly one of the final frontiers of wine. You may be 50 miles east of the Cote d'Or, the beating heart of Burgundy (near the border with Switzerland), but you might as well be in a galaxy far, far away from modern wine tastes. If today a handful of grapes hold nearly despotic sway over people's palates and the world's wine styles all seem to be marching, lemming like, off a cliff into some homogeneous ocean where everything looks and tastes the same, well, the wines of the Jura are absurd and eccentric, unique and invigorating and extraordinary values in the context of the long-lived complex wines that they are.

Gone are the days when one could pick up top-notch Chateauneuf-du-Pape for under $30. Even Côtes du Rhônes, what can amount to the bargain-bin category of the region, are fast pushing $20-$25.For those who thrill to the berry and fig-packed flavors, loamy minerality and dried herbs so associated with the wines of this arid rolling landscape, there is relief. Turn up the Quality-to-Price Ratio by turning to one of France's undiscovered and undervalued territories: The Languedoc.

Domaine des Grecaux's 2003 "Terra Solis" drinks like a slender, sleeker, fresher version of the Southern Rhône's great wines...

We’re over a decade into the third millennium, and Jean-François Ganevat is reputed to have no computer. He fulfills orders for his 40-50 different wines (40-50!) by fax machine. And he gets back to people when he wants. We speak from experience:

We had our importer fax some questions over to Jean-François on November 4th. We received an answer from him March 27th.