2005 Marsannay Boivin

Philippe Roty told me he was lucky he hadn't green-harvested or pulled leaves yet in Fontenys, Griottes or Mazis when the hail hit in late July, although he had started these activities elsewhere. He began harvesting on September 23 because he was afraid of losing more acidity and getting notes of surmaturite. "We eliminated more underripe than rotten grapes in '06," he told me. Roty does an eight-day pre-fermentation cold soak at 8oC, and one punchdown and one pumpover per day during the fermentation, which does not normally surpass 30oC. "We have plenty of color even before the alcoholic fermentation begins, and hotter temperatures could kill it; that wouldn't be stable color," he explained, adding that he vinifies with a "cocktail of local yeasts from Burgundy." As is normally the case here, the 2006s had been racked in April following the malo, and taken off their gross lees. Incidentally, Roty considers 2005 to be the domain's finest vintage since 1990.

Philippe Roty told me that grape sugars were high in 2005 (in the 12 to 13 degree range), but that the family still did some chaptalization to prolong the fermentations. The Rotys did their normal week-long cold soak at 8o to 10o under a layer of carbonic gas, then punched down the cap once a day during the fermentation. Philippe considers the 2005s to be "well-built, structured wines for extended aging." I suspect the top cuvees will need at least 8 to 10 years of cellaring-and most of the 2004s need time in bottle as well. The pHs are generally low here: around 3.3 for the '05s, according to Philippe, and a bit lower for the 2004s. The Rotys purchased a sorting table with a light in time for the 2004 harvest, and Philippe notes that this was a very good investment. "Due to the long flowering in 2004, we had a second generation of grapes, and we cut these off entirely." The family also purchased a gentler pneumatic press in 2004.