The 2009 Beaune Les Cras is an explosive, fat wine bursting with dark red fruit, sweet herbs, spices and flowers. This is a decidedly large-scaled, opulent Beaune, yet all of the elements flow together with notable grace. Cras is one of the vineyards farmed directly by Giroud. The wine finished its malo in December 2009. The Cras was bottled in February 2010. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2021. I was very impressed with the wines I tasted at Camille Giroud. While top selections are hugely successful, readers should also pay attention to the village wines, which deliver plenty of character at accessible prices. Most of the wines are made from purchased fruit sourced from growers with whom the winery has long term relationships. The harvest took place between the 8th and 15th of September. Sugar levels were higher than in 2005. Macerations were on the long side in 2009, and ranged from 19-24 days versus the more typical 12-17. Most of the wines were made from 100% destemmed fruit, although a few selections - the Corton-Rognets and Chambertin in particular - saw some whole bunches. Malos were completed between February and April 2010 and the wines were not racked during their aging. Bottling began just after harvest 2010 for some of the early maturing reds, but most of the wines were still in barrel at the time of my visit in late February, with the exception of the Grands Crus, most of which had been racked into steel and were awaiting bottling towards the end of March. A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet, various American importers, including: Willette Wines, NJ; tel. (917) 400-2238; Veritas Imports, Beverly Hills, CA; tel. (310) 205-3803; Toepfer Imports LLC, CO; tel. (303) 818-7640