2005 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Chênes Carteaux 1er Cru

On more than one occasion during my marathon 2006 tasting, Dominique Laurent reminded me that last year he made no special claims for 2005; he even indicated a slight preference for his 2003s. The subtext, I believe, was, on the one hand, that since his suppliers normally do the vinifying (he brings purchased barrels of wine to his cellar in the winter), his own creative options are limited, and, on the other, that even an idiot could have made good wine in 2005. And so there wasn't much he could add about 2005. But he was high on his 2006s. "They're delicious wines, purer than the 2004s," he summarized midway through our tasting. "A great vintage is very classic from the start; 2006 is like that, even if it's not entirely regular. For starters, due to normal harvesting dates, growers on the Cote de Beaune generally picked less ripe fruit than those on the Cote de Nuits, as they did again in 2007." Laurent bought less village wine in 2006 than in 2005, and "much less" generic wine.

Christian Gouges did what he described as "a very simple vinification" in 2005 because he didn't want to impose technology or technique on what he said were perfect grapes. He did a short pre-fermentation cool maceration, then punched down the cap three times a day until fermentation temperature reached its peak of 32o. Total cuvaison times were no more than 15 days, and the result, he said, was wines with "an intensity of tannins but not an austerity." Gouges now suggests cellaring his wines for eight to ten years regardless of the vintage. "At the beginning, I said that the 1988s would decline early, but they're still closed and young," he told me. "Since then I'm much more humble about making predictions." (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)

Laurent has built his negociant business on buying essentially two types of wines: those that get what he calls a naif vinification, featuring gentle extraction and minimal intervention (Laurent often calls these "vins de paysanne") and those made entirely from whole clusters (the vendange entier method). Wherever possible he works with ancient vines, often true pinot fin. Because his elevage helps to preserve the genetic identity and the energy of the wines he selects, he tends to outperform in very ripe years. Not surprisingly, his 2005 collection offers plenty of thrills. For his part, Laurent likes 2003 even better. "The 2003s will last for 40 years and will always be open," he told me, "but the 2005s are going to shut down."