2006

Excerpts from Sarah Marsh’s Burgundy Briefing, Issue 9, Winter 2007/2008

Whites

After a cold and rainy August the prognosis was not good. A warm September saved the day and the grapes rushed to ripeness.

There is a marked difference in quality and style according to when the grapes were picked. While the Côte de Nuits growers were ‘hanging on’ to pick red as late as possible to achieve phenolic ripeness, in the Côte de Beaune, many looked at their Chardonnay and applied to pick early. Jean-Marc Roulot and Dominque Lafon both started four days early.

2006 whites display plenty of fruit. The acidity is fresh, juicy and fruity. Above all it is ripe acidity. It is quite different from the steely, colder acidity of the 2004′s and is more obvious, although of similar level to 2005. The palate is on the fuller, rich and round side, but not at all heavy. The wines have a good balance of ripe fruit and acidity.

Jean Marc Roulot: “The wine has some similarity to 2000; It is a little bit supple. The acidity is not as good as in 2004 and 2005 and it remains me of the way the 2000 tasted at the beginning.”

Oliver Lamy: “The fruit is ripe and the finish is fresh and mineral. I like the balance. It is very pure and easy to understand the terroir. It has the energy of the 2004s but with a little more ripeness.”

Reds

This is a classic Burgundy red wine vintage. It is not something out of the ordinary, like 2003; not something extraordinary, like 2005. It is a good vintage for the expression of both pinot noir and the terroir.

It was marked by a hot July; a cool cloudy August with varying quantities of rain, and cool nights. This was followed by a warm September, during which the majority harvested in dry conditions.

A band of hail cut a swath through the Côte de Nuits on the 28th August. The worst affected places were the village vineyards below the village of Chambolle and a section of Gevrey-Chambertin, which included the grand cru of Charmes, Chapelle, the lower part of Chambertin and Clos de Bèze which were all badly affected.

2006 is a vintage of fruit, fragrance and, in the best wines, of fine texture. The wines are very scented. The fruit is very pure. There is lucidity to the fruit in 2006, although it is riper than one might expected and it has a lovely sweetness. They are much lighter bodied than than the 2005s, not so full, and more elegant in youth.