2006 Vosne-Romanée Village

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)