2006 Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots 1er Cru

Olivier Leriche tactfully described 2007 as a special vintage. "It was a very early vintage but completely different in style from 2003," he explained. "After the very early start to the season followed by three bad summer months, we only started picking on August 31-almost 120 days after the flowering, compared to 90 in 2003. In 2007, we had the time to wait for good ripeness," he said, adding that he worked with a small picking team and proceeded slowly. In the end, grape sugars were between 12.5% and 13%. Leriche eliminated 5% to 20% of the fruit according to vineyard and will ultimately make a moderate 37 hectoliters per hectare. There was little in the way of tannins. "In one sense a vintage needs tannins, but these wines will have the advantage of being drinkable early," said Leriche, who destemmed more than usual in 2007, another reason why this is a relatively light vintage here. The 2006s I tasted from bottle show more structure. (A Daniel Johnnes Selection, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; also imported by Chambers & Chambers, San Francisco, CA and Ex-Cellars Wine Agencies, Solvang, CA)

Here's a classic example of an estate where 100% whole-cluster fermentation resulted in a particularly strong and interesting set of 2005s. Estate manager/winemaker Olivier Leriche destemmed more than usual in 2006-about 60% on average, but with a couple of notable exceptions. But yields were very low (averaging around 25 hectoliters per hectare) and grape sugars were healthy (all between 12.8% and 13.7%), and he did very little chaptalization in '06. Like a number of his colleagues, Leriche believes that the village of Nuits-Saint-Georges fared especially well in 2006, due to the small crop (a function of small clusters), lower rainfall totals and the good fortune to escape the hail. Leriche describes the new set of wines as "more classic to their terroir." In comparison, he went on, "2005 is a bit scorched by the power of the vintage." (A Daniel Johnnes Selection, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; also imported by Chambers & Chambers, San Francisco, CA and Ex-Cellars Wine Agencies, Solvang, CA)