2005 L'Esprit des Pavots

According to winemaker Nicolas Morlet, who took over from his brother Luc in December of 2005, the growing season of 2006 presented "the same scenario as '05 at the beginning, with a rainy winter followed by a perfect bloom. But 2006 witnessed a hot spell and a few days of strong, dry winds in late September that required the team to stop picking. "The wind blew off a lot of the vines' leaves, and there was even some dehydration of the merlot that goes into the Pavots," he told me, "but we had very good day-night temperature differential, and of course the good ventilation of the vines helped prevent rot from spreading." In comparison, he went on, 2005 was a perfect growing season. "We had warmth and sun but no mean sun and no dehydrating winds," said Morlet, who eventually harvested the cabernet at the end of October.

The 2005s were finished by winemaker Nicolas Morlet, who took over from his brother Luc in the spring of 2006. I tasted with both Morlets in March. There's a continuity of style here (no surprise) and the emphasis continues to be on strongly mineral, structured wines with rare aromatic intensity. Nic Morlet emphasized the extended growing seasons allowed by the estate's high-altitude vineyards, pointing out that "our hillsides are protected from heat and dehydration. We didn't have the large crops that many valley floor sites gave," he added, "and we had plenty of acidity in both the white and red grapes. We were also able to pick at leisure."