2006 Clos Saint-Denis Grand Cru

Virgile Lignier did a lot of crop thinning in 2006 and he believes this explains why he got so little rot. But he did eliminate some dried grapes, the aftereffects of hail. (Lignier, incidentally, purchased a second sorting table for the 2007 harvest.) I found the young 2006s very expressive in November. The crus had been racked just after the 2007 harvest and were assembled in barrel. Lignier told me that '06 is more tannic and less ripe than 2005, with 2007 in turn more tannic and less ripe than 2006. He considers the '05s not only sweeter than the '06s but also more accessible. When I told him that I preferred the oak element in his wines better during this visit than in past vintages, he noted that as of vintage 2005, he uses only Francois Freres barrels, having eliminated Berthomieu and Rousseau barriques.