2006 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Chenevottes 1er Cru

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)