2005 Clos Vougeot Vieille Vignes

Francois Labet describes 2006 as a vintage with "classic structure, backbone, flesh and aromas: the wines will need aging to knit." In comparison, he went on, 2005 is exuberant and not classical. "It's okay with some ladies but not with older ladies. It's St. Laurent or Guerlain; it's not Dior or Givenchy." Sexist comments aside, I like them both, although there's nothing "feminine" about the sheer size of the 2005s. Labet noted that 2006 was a more difficult vintage "in every aspect." After sorting, he produced less than 30 hectoliters per hectare in Clos Vougeot; some hail at the border with Grands-Echezeaux made it necessary to eliminate 12% or 13% of the fruit. As is his habit, Labet vinified with whole clusters. No chaptalization was done in 2006, and the wines had not yet been racked at the time of my visit.

Francois Labet's Chateau de la Tour, farmed biodynamically since 1992, has for a long time polarized tasters. The main reason has been that Labet has vinified entirely whole clusters (the vendange entier method) since 1987. "I started here in 1984, and then changed my approach to winemaking 360 degrees in 1997," he told me. He does an extended pre-fermentation cold soak (typically ten days at 5o or 6o), but no post-fermentation extraction for fear of getting herbaceousness from the stems. He seeks to make a vin de garde which can nonetheless be enjoyed after a year or two in bottle. Indeed, my experience with older vintages is that they maintain their freshness for a long time. (On my November visit, I was impressed by a 1991 Vieilles Vignes, whose barnyard element was supported by captivating sweetness of fruit. An '87, the first vintage made with all whole clusters, was similarly fat with fruit but featured some rather idiosyncratic baked bread aromas that I have long associated with wines made with the consulting assistance of enologist Guy Accad, with whom Labet worked at the time.)