Producer note: Bruno Clair describes the 2005 growing season as one with "nothing to do. Take any textbook on making fine pinot and that's what we had in 2005. The consistency from one berry to the next was incredible. All you had to do was harvest the fruit because it didn't really matter when you started or finished and there was essentially no sorting to do either. I can't say we did much during the fermentations either except watch. But in the cuvérie during the fermentations it was like a festival of red fruit aromas and the last time that I noticed this particular phenomenon was in 1996. Yields were normal with the exception of a few wines and we obtained excellent sugars of between 12.5 and 13.6%. Overall, the 2005s remind me of 1990 but with more flesh on the mid-palate. And I believe they will age for a long time but also hold at a plateau of drinkability for years too." Clair noted that the 20 year lease arrangement with Jadot that commenced with the sale of much of Domaine Clair-Daü ended in 2005 and thus in 2006, there will be more Clos de Bèze, Clos St. Jacques and Vosne "Champs Perdrix". And in another big change, Clair will have another grand cru in 2006 because of the recent death of his father Bernard. Specifically, a .41 ha portion of the Fougeray de Beauclair lease holding of Bonnes Mares will revert to Bruno. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; Justerini & Brooks, UK).