2005 Chablis Les Preuses Grand Cru

"Two thousand six was a year of exceptional maturity, but without big acidity," observed Vincent Dauvissat. "The wines have more finesse and precision than the 2005s due to the clean harvest." Last year Dauvissat told me that he had a good bit of noble rot in 2005. When I mentioned that virtually none of his neighbors admitted to being affected by botrytis in '05, he replied that they might indeed be telling the truth. "I have more precocious rootstocks, and the grapes had more sugar when the rains came in mid-August, so they were more vulnerable to rot. Fortunately, the rot never got established in August of 2006." Dauvissat is unusually articulate when it comes to explaining the way each of his sites expresses itself in his wines, both in the early going and with bottle aging. Many growers have surprisingly little to say on this subject. Often I will ask a grower "what do you find?" when we're tasting a wine together. You might be shocked to learn how many have little more to say than "it's very fresh" or "that's for you to say," or simply admit "I'm not very good at describing my wines." (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; the Dauvissat-Camus label is imported by Classic Wine Imports, West Roxbury, MA)

The ripeness in 2005 was already rushing ahead by mid-August, said Vincent Dauvissat, when some rain on the 15th created the conditions for the beginnings of rot. But good weather in September brought mostly noble rot, and acids stayed sound while sugars continued to rise. Still, Dauvissat added, "it was really too warm during the harvest. The wines were heavy and honeyed at the beginning, but they're tasting better now. Still, the '05s are not like the '02s: there's too much noble rot and surmaturite in 2005."Interestingly, Dauvissat was in no hurry to start the 2006 harvest when I visited him in mid-September-in contrast to some of his colleagues who had already started. "We have potential alcohol and sound acids now but the third dimension is not there yet," he told me. "We still need a bit more physiological maturity; the vines need to complete their vegetative cycle." (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; the Dauvissat-Camus label is imported by Classic Wine Imports, West Roxbury, MA)