2006 Corton Clos Rognet Grand Cru

According to Jean-Nicolas Meo, "the 2007s were clean, fruity and forward from the beginning. They'll be pretty, charming wines." The pHs were a bit higher than average and the malos mostly finished quite early here. Meo believes that the summer rains had the effect of "dissolving the tartaric acidity and bringing up the level of potassium." Meo compared the new set of wines to the 2000s and 1992s but believes that the '07s have put on weight in recent months. I found them quite shy at the beginning of November, perhaps due to SO2 temporarily blocking their texture and flesh. "Our enologist advised us to use more sulfur dioxide due to his fear of brett owing to the high pHs," Meo explained. "This hardened the wines at the beginning-gave them a lean quality-but they're getting better as they absorb the sulfur." In contrast, Meo went on, "the '06s are well-balanced but more structured wines. They have more size but they're also a bit harsh today." Based on the bottlings I tasted, they have turned out splendidly. Meo's negociant wines had been racked for the second time a couple weeks before my visit, but the estate wines had only been racked once, just before the 2008 harvest. (Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; also represented by Domaines & Saveurs/Jeanne-Marie de Champs, imported by Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY and Boston Wine Company, Somerville, MA)

Jean-Nicolas Meo has a highly successful crop of 2006s in the works, but his considered description of the vintage indicates some ambivalence. "It's a very balanced vintage, with similar analyses to 2005," he began. "Actually, we started with a bit more sugar in 2006 due to low crop levels, and then harvested over a long period, stopping for a while to pick some very ripe chardonnay. But the pinots are a little less concentrated than the 2005s and therefore they were more aggressive at the beginning. After the malos, we got somewhat higher pHs, which have compensated for the lower density of the wines and made them more approachable. Still, the density and concentration of material are not at the level of great years like 2005 and 2002. But 2006 has all the elements to age well." I found the 2006s to be quite ripe, even chocolatey, in November; they may have been flattened out a bit by having been recently racked. (Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; also represented by Domaines & Saveurs/Jeanne-Marie de Champs, imported by Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY and Boston Wine Company, Somerville, MA)