2006 Chablis Village

Tribut's normal response to a question about vintage quality is a shrug of the shoulders. In the case of 2007, he followed the shrug with a bit of description: "Nerveux wines, with too much acid in the end of the mouth. A bit more acid than 2004 but also more material. The wines have good texture but a slight hard edge on the back." The malos finished early, in cuve, after which most of the wines were moved into barriques; Tribut buys just three or four new barrels each year. Tribut, who is the brother-in-law of Vincent Dauvissat, owns just 1.5 hectares of premier crus, most of which is Beauroy. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)

Tribut, a particularly candid sort who told me last year than neither 2005 nor 2004 was special, did not yet have a lot to say about 2006 other than that it was "a very rich year, with a lot of similarities to 2005." He went on: "Both of these were precocious years that produced wines with a lot of alcohol and lowish acidity, although you don't really feel the alcohol due to the richness of the wines." Tribut noted that he did not make the full allowable yield in either vintage, and that production was actually lower in 2006 than in '05. Tribut ferments his wines in tank, then gives them a sojourn in barrels, but buys only three to six new barriques for each new vintage. Incidentally, Tribut told me that 2002 "is the last superb year here." (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL) Previously recommended: 2005 Chablis (88), 2005 Chablis Cote de Lechet (89), 2005 Chablis Beauroy (90).