2005 Dominique Laurent Romanee-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru

"Laurent has built his negociant business on buying essentially two types of wines: those that get what he calls a naif vinification, featuring gentle extraction and minimal intervention (Laurent often calls these "vins de paysanne") and those made entirely from whole clusters (the vendange entier method). Wherever possible he works with ancient vines, often true pinot fin. Because his elevage helps to preserve the genetic identity and the energy of the wines he selects, he tends to outperform in very ripe years. Not surprisingly, his 2005 collection offers plenty of thrills." - Int'l Wine Cellar