2005 Gevrey-Chambertin

Negociant Pacalet, who made 95 barrels of red wine in 2006, works mostly with low-yielding old pinot fin vines planted in the 1950s and 1960s. He also harvested very late in 2006, beginning on September 28. Pacalet works entirely with whole clusters and wild yeasts. He carried out a cool pre-fermentation maceration, doing two pigeages per day. "With stems, the temperature mounts slowly, and the peak temperature of the fermentation in 2006 was typically between 29oC and 32oC, depending on the cuvee," he said. Pacalet uses barely 15% to 20% new oak for elevage, avoids pumping his wines, and bottles by hand, normally without filtering. Although Pacalet knows exactly what he's after, he's far from dogmatic about his methods, and he's quick to point out that others take different approaches. For example, he's aware that many winemakers do not consider stems to be "part of the grapes," but he clearly believes that they contribute an important tannic element to his wines. And he's also quite democratic about consumers' varying tastes in Burgundy. On the other hand, he adds, "the worst thing is when a winemaker makes wine to suit the market's taste." Pacalet certainly has the courage of his own convictions. As Pacalet's 2005s sold out quickly, I was only able to see a few examples; he bottled this vintage three months earlier than usual to preserve the fruit. "The sun was the real danger to the finesse of the pinot in 2005," he told me, making it clear that he prefers "a balance between sun and minerality. Vintages like 1998 and 1978 gave a perfect balance; 2006 is not bad either." Pacalet describes the phenolic maturity in 2006 as better than that of 2002. "It was too cold and rainy during both the 2002 and 2001 harvests," he said.

I sampled Pacalet's 2005s with his assistant Nicolas Luquet in his vinification facility in Beaune. Pacalet, who was regisseur at Domaine Prieure-Roch until he started his own operation in 2001, buys fruit from a handful of suppliers, using his own harvesting team to pick the grapes. He makes distinctly idiosyncratic wines in very natural fashion, vinifying only whole clusters. The fermentations typically start after a few days, and he normally does two pigeages per day until the end of the sugar fermentation, at which point he de-cuves rapidly and the malos generally start quickly, due to the absence of sulfur as well as to his "semi-carbonic maceration," which begins to break down the malic acidity. The inclusion of the stems moderates the influence of the warm fermentation temperatures, which routinely reach 35oC, says Luquet. The 2005s had not yet been racked in November, and Luquet told me that Pacalet will only add sulfur at the time of the racking. Pacalet made 100 barrels of red wine in 2005 and 20 of white. He uses very little new oak, "just to renew his barrels," according to Luquet, who told me that Pacalet purchases a lot of once-used barrels from Francois Freres. (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY) Also recommended: Pommard (85).