The dark-colored 1997 Volnay Champans boasts a grapey, oaky, and floral nose. Reminiscent of a young, oak-aged Chateauneuf-du-Pape (La Nerthe Cuvee des Cadettes, for example), it offers super-ripe cassis and garrigue flavors significantly marked by sweet, toasty oak. What this medium-to-full-bodied wines lacks in elegance and sophistication it makes up for with sheer power and brawn. Projected maturity: now-2006+. A Becky Wasserman Selection / Le Serbet; French Fax: 011-33-3-80-24-29-70, various American importers, also Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700.