2006 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

Michel Niellon describes 2007 as a "special" vintage. The pinot grapes were riper than the chardonnay, he told me, but he still picked the white grapes first, even if he waited a few days to harvest certain parcels. Not surprisingly, the wines were vivid, even a bit sharp, before the malolactic fermentations. I tasted barrels that had finished their malos, but many others were still working their way through. In fact, Niellon was worried about having to keep the colder of his two cellars warm in early June in order to finish the malos. His concern at the time of my visit was that the '07s would turn out to be more acidic and less ripe than the '04s. Incidentally, Niellon loves the 2006 vintage. He told me that he finds the 2005s a bit less acid and less flattering than the '06s-a bit heavy and closed in comparison to the newer vintage.

Michel Niellon, who likes his white wines young, "with fruit," is enjoying his 2004s now. When I mentioned having recently tasted some of his '85s and '86s (the '85 Batard-Montrachet, for example, is a monumental wine), he looked at me as if I were demented and said "that's ancient history." Of course, in his small cellar he has limited space to keep old bottles. The 2006 malos here had only recently finished when I stopped by to visit, and the wines had not yet been racked. Niellon describes 2006 as a rich, ripe vintage that can be drunk early or cellared for four or five years. Like a few of his neighbors in Chassagne-Montrachet, he finds more vivacity and freshness in the '06s than in the '05s, not to mention more personality. Niellon started harvesting the day before the ban in '06 with his Chassagne-Montrachet Les Chaumees and would have started a day or two earlier if he could have gathered his picking crew together by then. His wines are fresh rather than especially fat-not a bad thing in this vintage. (Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, New York, NY) Also recommended: Chassagne-Montrachet (85).