2006 Nuits Saint-Georges Chaboeufs 1er Cru

"Two thousand six gave me a lot of satisfaction, especially considering the conditions of August and the state of the harvest," was the first thing Alain Meunier told me about this vintage. "We had good phenolic material and ripeness of sugars, but we threw away up to 35% of our grapes, during a late-August sorting in the vines, another one at the harvest, and then again on a table de trie." In contrast to many of his colleagues, Meunier told me that he had less rot in 2007; the major challenge in '07, he said, was uneven ripening. Meunier did very little pigeage in 2006 "due to the sanitary state of the vintage," and no chaptalization, as potential alcohol levels ranged from 12.9% to 13.5%. "The wines are ripe, and the acidity is correct, but the wines are on the tender side, with pHs a bit higher than the 2005s." Meunier predicts that 2006 will be a "medium-term ager: more than 2004 but less than 2005. And they'll be much more presentable young than 2005, which is closed and severe now."