2006 Chassagne-Montrachet La Romanée 1er Cru

According to Jean-Pierre Cournut, the timing of anti-rot sprays was critical in 2007, as was the crop level and the date of the harvest. He waited until September 7 to pick chardonnay and compares the young '07s to his '04s, which he describes as "concentrated, fat, minerally and fresh. Both vintages absorbed their oak quickly, and both went through reductive stages early on," he told me. Potential alcohol ranged from 11.5% to 12.5% and the wines were chaptalized between a degree and a degree and a half. The malolactic fermentations can be late in this cellar, but the 2007s were finished when I tasted them at the end of May, and had been sulfited twice but not yet racked. (Domaines et Saveurs/Jeanne-Marie de Champs; importers include Fine Vines, Melrose Park, IL; The Wine House Limited, San Francisco, CA; Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; and The Country Vintner, Oilville, VA) Also recommended: Santenay La Comme.

Jean-Pierre Cournut began the 2006 harvest on September 20 and finished in six and a half days. It was the first year in which he did not have to do any chaptalization, he told me, and acid levels in the grapes were "correct." (In fact, the acid levels in the post-malolactic wines that Cournut provided were among the highest figures I heard at any of my visits this spring.) One of the reasons for the high sugar levels in the grapes was the small size of the crop, which Cournut said was partly due to the hail damage in 2005. "We actually had less juice in the grapes than in 2005," he noted. But there wasn't much 2005 either: because demand was high, Cournut was only able to hold back a few bottles for himself, and he had next to nothing to show me. Incidentally, Cournut told me that his favorite vintages of past years are 2004 and 2001. (Domaines et Saveurs/Jeanne-Marie de Champs; importers include Fine Vines, Melrose Park, IL; The Wine House Limited, San Francisco, CA; Cavattapi Distribuzione, Seattle, WA; Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; and The Country Vintner, Oilville, VA)