While I have not tasted Barmes’ 2007 Pinot Noir Reserve since it was bottled, it was sufficiently impressive after assembly in tank that I do not want to miss this opportunity to praise it. Pure, ripe, vividly aromatic and positively tart vanilla- and licorice-tinged sour cherry, purple plum, and red raspberry deliver refreshment, allied to beef marrow and chalk. There is a subtle creaminess of texture here that serves for just the kind of counterpoint – and perhaps a hint of paradox – that makes Pinot Noir such an intriguing delight. As there are 18 barrels worth of this, it will not exactly be a rarity; it was due to be bottled, without filtration, last Spring; and it should be a delight to follow for at least 6-8 years. There is as usual a lot of fascinating wine in Francois Barmes’ constantly shifting, hugely diverse as well as just plain huge 2007 collection, though the level of success was on the whole consistent. As in the past, though, I remained relatively unconvinced by Barmes’ way with Pinot Gris, despite its being a grape that elsewhere revealed special potential in 2007. I can’t say 2006 here represents an advertisement for Barmes’ conscientious and long-standing biodynamic practices, but then, in a year of rampant rot, surely the absence of anti-botrytis sprays has to have been sorely felt at many biodynamic estates. There were a couple of 2006s here too fungal to recommend, with the majority of what was a reduced line-up meriting mild recommendation provided they are drunk-up soon.Importer: Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644; also, a Thomas Calder Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29
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