Mme. Leroy's top Vosne Premier Cru offering, the dark-colored Vosne-Romanee Les Beaux Monts (350 cases) exhibits invitingly spicy, deep red and black fruit aromas. The flavors are packed with fat, ripe cherries, and touches of earth and cinnamon. Full-bodied, velvety textured, incredibly long and stunningly elegant, this gem will require 7-8 years of cellaring, and hold for 12-15 more years. This note is the result of tastings I did in Burgundy between January 7 and January 29. The wine was tasted from cask, not bottle. Pinot Noir, a fragile varietal, reacts poorly to fining, filtration, and careless bottling techniques, I recommend caution when considering buying a red burgundy based on cask samples. I called it as I tasted it, and hope the bottled wine reflects the quality of the samples I was provided. I have included the cases production for the wine in order for readers to appreciate the rarity of Leroy's wines. Importer: Martine's Wines, San Raphael, CA; tel. (415) 485-1800.

Stylish and aristocratic yet down-to-earth, this full-bodied, exciting red starts out with great subtlety, then builds in intensity, concentration and complexity as it unfolds its wet earth, red- and blackberry and toasted coffee flavors in a big, burly, tannic but long finish. A wine that comes across as very natural. Try after 2002. 340 cases made. -PM