05 Vincent Dancer, Meursault Les Corbins

I went looking for my Dancer notes to see how the 2005 stacks up, but there were none. Not a single "mmm" or "apply" or "buttery" anywhere, even though there's no Burgundy--red or white--I've had more of than the Dancer wines. I guess I've never had the impetus to write about it. Yeah, it's there, it's great, and now let's have another. It's a Burgundy I love drinking young. Dancer's only been around since 1996, so it's not as though there are any great back vintages laying around. And it's just as well because you need to drink a wine like this 2005 to understand what great white Burgundy is really about. It's tart as can be--mouth-puckering with lemon and tropical mango flavors. You think it's going to cream out--turn into that rich, buttery French chardonnay that's inspired a canon of oft-overdone California wines. That's the beauty of Dancer. You think it's going to do this or that, but it dances around it all. The wine's a real tease in that way and, if you ask me, the true "iron fist in a velvet glove." It seems so elegant, mysterious, but every flavor comes out in full force. The lemons become golden apples. The light vanilla becomes almonds then walnuts then circus peanuts. And before you know it, the bottle's gone, a new vintage is here, and we are young again.