2005 Gevrey-Chambertin La Combe Aux Moines 1er Cru

The last appointment of my November tour of Burgundy left me with a very good taste in my mouth, as the new team of Erwan Faiveley and CEO/advisor Bernard Hervet has a highly successful crop of '06s in the works-a set of wines that showcases a new direction for this firm. Among the most important recent developments here has been a radical change in barrel suppliers. "With 2006, there are no more Remond barrels," noted Hervet. "We felt that these barrels had accentuated the natural hardness of the wines here. Now we're avoiding the bitterness in the first phase of the wines," he said, adding that Francois Freres and Taransaud were now the main suppliers of barriques. Added Faiveley: "We have also stopped taking the solids from the vat and pumping them into the press. That gave our wines a bitterness from the seeds." According to Hervet, it wasn't possible to have overmature grapes in 2006, and thus the vintage is perfect for people who don't like to make-or to drink-"exaggerated wines."