Decanter's consultant editor Steven Spurrier brings you his impressions of the new wines at the 2006 Burgundy tastings.
For more background on the vintage, and what to expect, you can read decanter.com's 2006 Burgundy harvest report here.
For the comprehensive 13-page Pinot Noir report including Sarah Marsh MW and Clive Coates MW on BURGUNDY 2006 see the February issue of Decanter magazine - OUT NOW
Decanter's top 20 We bring you our top 20 wines from the 2006 vintage
What a change from having a hundred or so wines to taste (several hundred in the case of the BIVB event from many, many different producers) to having 52 wines, 20 white and 32 red, from one single producer. These magnificent tastings, hosted by Jadot's UK importers Hatch Mansfield, are generally held in the ballroom at the Hyde Park Hotel, but this year they relocated to the Four Seasons nearby.
Louis Jadot is absolutely in the top half dozen grower-negociants in Burgundy, some would say the very best, and the wines pretty well proved this. Patrick McGrath MW, the MD of Hatch Mansfield, introduced Marc Dupin, sales manager for Jadot, who put a proper salesman's pitch on 2006 by saying it could be compared to 1989.
This was because July had been the hottest July in Burgundy since 1921 - even hotter than in 2003. However it was then followed by a very cold August and although September returned to fine weather, the grapes were not in the best shape.
For the reds, Jadot harvested early with hundreds of pickers and the sorting tables used to the maximum. It would have been a normal crop, but 20% of the grapes never made it into the winery. For the whites, Dupin said that Jacques Lardiere, the brilliant and much-loved winemaker at Jadot for over 30 years, compared 2006 to 1990. This had about as many takers in the room as did the red 1989 comparison, but we agreed that they were better than the 2005s (whites, that is). Due to the low acidity, the pressing of the whites was softer and a little malolactic was kept back to give them more ageing potential.
The whites were universally good: not a single mark from me under 16.5 and several in the 18s [out of 20]. Two wines I might buy for my own cellar were a seductive Santenay Clos de Malte (around £12 duty paid in Vat) and a firmly structured Pernand-Vergelesses Clos de la Croix de Pierre, a really good, stony mini-Corton-Charlemagne and good value at £13.50.
The Meursault range was impressive, with Genevrieres (£31) standing out; the Pulignys were just about perfect, with a totally classic 1er Cru Champ-Gain (£25.50) and a broader, grander Folatieres (£34). In Chassagne, three top quality 1er Crus, with La Romanee (£40) ahead of Les Caillerets and the beautifully balanced Morgeot Clos de la Chapelle from the Duc de Magenta vineyard. Finally the four Grand Crus deserved their ranking in every respect: Corton-Charlemagne (£49) showing the relative coolness of the vineyard, Batard-Montrachet (£88) as big as expected but not in the slightest bit heavy, Chevalier-Montrachet 'Les Demoiselles' (£130) a wine of pure beauty, and finally Montrachet (£147), hard to find a more imposing expression of white Burgundy. Hats off to Jacques Lardiere, but Marc Dupin did agree with me that 10 years ago the care of the vineyards was not so meticulous and this showed in the intrinsic purety of flavour of all these wines.
The reds kicked off with Jadot's Beaujolais selection from their own estate Chateau des Jacques in Moulin-a-Vent where a lesser reliance on oak than in the past keeps the Beaujolais fruit, while still coming across quite Burgundian both in structure and price.
Burgundy opened with a very good Cote de Nuits-Villages 'Le Vaucrain' (£10.50) that had more energy than Santenay Clos de Malte. The red version of Permand-Vergelesses (£11.50) had more length than the two Savignys and was a bit cheaper. The table of 5 Premiers Crus from Beaune, Jadot's heartland, was a joy.
Philip Tuck MW All the tasting notes in the tasting book were provided by Philip Tuck MW. Here he is on Beaune-Chouacheux: 'it is a richly-fruited, tender wine of considerable charm with a fragrant, slightly earthy bouquet, velvet texture and luscious finish'. My thoughts entirely.
Hard to pick a favourite between Chouacheux, Boucherottes, Theurons and Les Avaux, all around £15, then the Clos des Ursules (£21) dominates the lot. 'A wine perfectly balancing elegance and power' according to Philip Tuck. Of the two Pommards, the Rugiens (£26) did it for me over the Epenots (£26.50) and then it was onto the Cotes de Nuits, where most people agree the vintage as better than in the Cotes de Beaune.
Excellent Nuits St Georges Les Boudots (£31), really splendid Grand Cru style Vosne-Romanee Les Suchots (£40) and a pretty, elegant vLes Beaux Monts (£40), two lovely and typical Chambolle 1er Crus: Les Baudes (£33) and a more structured Les Fuees (£31.50), and a truly imposing Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint Jacques (£52). Finally there came six Grands Crus, with Echezaux (£66) slightly outclassing Clos Vougeot, Chapelle-Chambertin, even Griotte-Chambertin, then Clos Saint-Denis (£82) pushing elegance and class a little further and finally Chambertin Clos de Beze (£110) a wine of huge quality, a very beautiful/powerful/complex red Burgundy, justly described as 'majestic' by Philip Tuck.
This was the last of the Burgundy tastings. In Jacques Lardiere's and his team's hands, definitely a vintage to buy for the medium term, with prices for every pocket.
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Monday 7 January
The tastings of the second to last vintage from Burgundy take place in London in the second week of January. About 20 merchants set out their stalls, a hundred or so wines at a time and in the middle of the week the BIVB takes over in mid week with about 2,000 samples just on its own. So we certainly get a good view of the vintage.
It is clear that the whites are better than the reds, but the reds have purity and definition and the different appellations stand out from each other. As Jasper Morris says, they can only make these wines in Burgundy.
The William Fevre Chablis are superb: linear and clean with weight added by a touch of oak on the Premier and Grand Crus. My favourites were Petit Chablis (under £10, but there were no prices shown) to get the drift of a northern Chardonnay, Chablis, Vaillons and Fourchaume of the Premier Crus, Vaudesir, Preuses and especially Les Clos, Chablis's Montrachet.
Bouchard Pere et Fils owns some great vineyards in the Cote de Beaune, and they use grapes from most of them to make their branded Bourgogne Chardonnay, which will be good enough for most of us. Beaune Clos St Landry was lovely, Meursault Les Clous typical and the Premier Crus Genevrieres and Perrieres magnificent.
In reds, I liked the freshness and precision: Bourgogne Pinot Noir could start everyone off, but Monthelie was twice as good at less than twice the price. All the better wines were cask samples and had undergone malolactic fermentation in barrel to add roundness. Beaune Marconnets was lovely, Pommard Les Pezerolles deep and earthy and in the Cote de Nuits Vosne-Romanee les Suchots was fleshy and seductive and their Clos de Vougeot outclassed their Chambertin Clos de Beze.
The second stop of the day was Berry Brothers and Rudd, who had over 30 producers showing their wines, limited (!) to 3 wines per producer. This tasting was an education in Burgundy, from the Macons of Lafon and Olivier Merlin, the Pouillys of the Bret Brothers, right up to Domaine des Lambrays, Clos de Tart and Chambertin from Rossignol-Trapet, the wines showed great purity and above all, origin.
My favourites were in the middle range for the reds: David Clark's Bourgogne Rouge (£108) and his evocative Burgundy/Beaujolais Bourgogne Passetoutgrains (£84); Domaine des Croix's Beaune-Bressandes (£222), Sylvain Loichet's Cote de Nuits (£120) and Nicolas Potel's Savigny les Beaune Les Haut Jarrons (£156). The grander wines were grander, but they were triple or more the price.
So far a very good year for those who like purity and origin in their wine.
Here are some opinions from the tastings:
Jancis Robinson MW: Whites are much better than the reds, I haven't been excited by the reds so far (this is the first day), but the one thing that the British market is going to realise is that with the worldwide demand for these wines and the weak pound against the euro, good Burgundy will no longer be inexpensive. The US, with their feeble dollar, already know this.
Julia Harding MW (Jancis Robinson's assistant): Reds quite light and a bit dry I remember Jancis telling me while tasting Bouchard Pere et Fils's 2005s last year that she thought them a bit light good freshness and clarity, lack of fruit in the lower ranges, better as you go up, but still a lack of charm. Whites better than the reds, nicely perfumed and fresh, an attractive vintage.
Jasper Morris MW: Whites are more precise and more aromatic than in 2005, but the key was to pick early; Reds, an initial problem with rot, but now the good vignerons know how to handle this and the wines have surprised us by putting on weight and colour. These will be very stylish wines for the medium term and our customers (Berry Bros and Rudd) will like them because you cannot make this sort of wine outside Burgundy.
And what about the French?
Bruno Pepin (Export Director Bouchard Pere et Fils): A useful vintage, 2005s had all the hype, 2006 is more classic, the reds more elegant, mid-term wines between 2000 and 2001 in quality. Whites will be great, as long as they were picked early.
Didier Seguier (Winemaker at William Fevre): Very ripe, very early vintage (13th September), you would have lost the Chablis style if you had waited more than 5 days. In my view, the best vintage in the last ten years, a blend between the richness of 1998 and the minerality of 2000.
Dominique Lafon (Meursault): The best 2006s are superb, but they had to be picked early to avoid the rot.
Etienne de Montille (Volnay): More flesh and spice than expected, the better wines have really benefited from the second winter.
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Tuesday 8 January
'This is not a vintage to buy across the board. One has to taste, re-taste and then make a selection' Barry Philipps
Haynes Hanson and Clark, Charles Taylor, Union des Grands Crus Chablis and Justerini and Brooks - including Vincent Dauvissat, Sauzet, Pierre Morey, Vincent Dancer, Tollot-Beaut, De Montille, Robert Chevillon, Christian Moreau, Domaine des Lambrays, Billaud-Simon, Louis Carillon, Daniel Rion and much more...
This was always going to be the biggest day, not in wines, that is Wednesday at Lords with the BIVB bash, but in tastings. Five tastings, of which I only made four, but perhaps with 250-300 wines at just these four, to slip out of the fifth was a good decision.
The whites are plainly far better than the reds, that we know, but the reds are for the most part charming and the whites are in some cases (not Chablis) a bit low in acidity. I would like to arrange this commentary in appellation order, as it would make more sense, but all I am going to do is list the growers and my opinions of their wines.
CHARLES TAYLOR TASTING
Domaine Billaud-Simon: Who could be better to launch a day of tasting? Brilliant 1er Crus as usual, Les Vaillons most flattering, Montee de Tonnerre more structured. Then Domaine Saumaize-Michelin in the Maconnais, what a contrast, another perfect example of Chardonnay, yet so totally different from Chablis 250 kilometres to the north.
Perfect Saint Verans and Pouilly-Fuisses. Domaine La Croix Senaillet also in the Maconnais seemed less good, but Barry Philipps, one of the best palates in the country, loved their Saint Veran Les Buis. Still on the whites, a new discovery for me was Stephane Aladame's Montagny 1er Crus, so much better than most of this boring appellation. Michel Bouzereau's Meursaults were appealing as usual, but you have to drink them young. David Peppercorn MW said that 'some whites are too fat' and Dee Blackstock MW from Waitrose went further to say that some of the Maconnais whites are made for early drinking and that some of them should be bottled in screwcaps to preserve the fruit. She like the reds, as 'they have charm and will be good for early drinking, as we have seen the 2005 reds nosedive into their closed phase'.
So the whites went on, all good, all more expensive than 2005 .Boyer-Martenot's Meursaults very clear and clean, Vincent & Francois Jouard's Chassagnes really impressive, ditto Jean-Marc Pillot's, but as Barry Philipps remarked 'this is not a vintage to buy across the board. One has to taste, re-taste and then make a selection.'
In Charles Taylor's red selection, Jacques Cacheux and Daniel Rion stood out, proving that 2006 is a better vintage for the Cote de Nuits than the Cotes de Beaune. This was confirmed by the excellent Gevrey-Chambertin from Domaine Rossignol-Trapet and their super Latricieres-Chambertin, the best red wine of the day for me, but then the Marquis d'Angerville wines came along and his Volnay 1er Cru Champans was really splendid.
Union des Grands Crus de Chablis
A dozen producers from the Union des Grands Crus de Chablis were present to show their 2006 wines, a fascinating contast of vineyards and styles. Quality overall was exceptional and, as international wine critc Robert Joseph remarked 'Chablis is coming into its own.'
First off was La Chablisienne showing Les Grenouilles on which is has a virtual monopoly. A lively and well-made wine, but not as complex as those from Pascal Bouchard, whose Vaudesir was very classy and whose Clos was both more fleshy and more mineral. On the Drouhin table, Les Clos had less expression than either Bougros or a splendidly floral Vaudesir.
Domaine Nathalie Fevre & Gilles (William Fevre and Nathalie Fevre's grandfather were brothers) was new to me, but a name to remember thanks to the really lovely Preuses, one of the best wines at the tasting.
William Fevre (owned by Bouchard Pere et Fils) showed all six Grands Crus and as on Monday Les Clos dominated. All Domaine Laroche's wines were under stelvin, the style being most open and approachable, with Les Blanchots showing more elegance than Les Clos, but Blanchots-Reserve de l'Obedience dominated by white flowers on the nose, took my top mark.
This was until I tasted the wines from Louis Moreau, made in a tight, minerally style with only two months in oak. Valmur, structured as usual, Vaudesir, seductive as usual, but both were beaten by Les Clos, a wine incredibly full of energy.
By contrast, Long Depaquit's Clos was almost fat and fleshy, but a great wine nonetheless. All four of Domaine Servin's wines showed very well, the Blanchots being the most forward and Les Preuses the most elegant. Simonnet-Febvre showed a single wine, an unoaked Preuses of stunning purity and length. Gerard Tremblay's Vaudesir was fleshy and lively as was Chateau de Viviers's Blanchots. A great vintage for Chablis.
HAYNES HANSON & CLARK
Chablis scored highly again here, with lovely wines from Daniel Dampt, a beautiful Les Lys, and quite superb wines from Christian Moreau, whose wines had so impressed me last year that they joined those of Billaud-Simon in my own cellar. Fabien Moreau thinks that 2006s are 'more mineral and fresh' than 2005s. Vaillons was long and pure, Valmur broad and expressive and Les Clos with incredible length, both these taking my highest marks. Franck Grux's Meursault Meix Chavaux was up to 1er Cru standard.
Anthony Hanson's 42 years in Burgundy shone through with his selection of whites from Marc Morey (1er Cru Virondot), Blain-Gagnard (Chassagne 1er Cru La Boudriotte), Etienne Sauzet (Puligny 1er Cru Les Perrieres) and Domaine des Lambray's Puligny 1er Cru Clos du Caillerets, very much Grand Cru in style and priced accordingly.
Maison Champy survived the comparison as their whites are now less oaky than before, with a delightful Saint-Romain and a classic Corton-Charlemagne. But Faiveley won the Corton-Charlemagne stakes, a wine with wonderful vineyard expression, but also twice the price of Champy's.
On to the reds, Chandon de Briailles, always light to start with, but they fill out in bottle, ending with a splendid Corton Les Bressandes. Alain Jeanniard a domaine in Morey-Saint-Denis and new to me, showed tight, intellectual wines with a superb Chambolle 1er Cru Les Combottes that rivalled the Clos des Lambrays on the next table at less than half the price. Drouhin-Laroze, Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg and Domaine J-F Mugnier all confirmed that while the Cote de Beaune has the charm, the Cote de Nuits has the structure this year. Finally, Faiveley showed that the younger generation is bringing the fruit more forward, with a splendid Gevrey 1er Cru Les Cazetiers.
JUSTERINI & BROOKS
With a certain level of fatigue setting in, my spirits were lifted by some fine and inexpensive Saint Verans and Pouilly-Fuisses from Domaine des Vieilles Pierres and then three fine tables of Chablis from Laurent-Tribut, Moreau-Naudet and Dauvissat-Camus.
Into the Cote de Beaune, Vincent Dancer's Meursault-Perrieres is always a star of this tasting, and Patrick Javillier's Les Tillets showed well and Albert Grivault's Clos des Perrieres as fine and firm as usual.
Then a new domaine Bachelet Monnot, showed a lovely range of well-priced Pulignys, yet beaten in elegance by those of Martelet de Cherisey.
On to Grands Crus and Etienne Sauzet's Batard-Montrachet took the same 18.5 mark as that from Jean-Noel Gagnard, with the former ahead by £100 a case in bond. Remi Rollin's Corton-Charlemagne shared that ranking, only to be beaten by that from Follin-Arbelet, for me the greatest wine of the day, a total, utter classic.
Many of the reds (de Montille, d'Angerville) had appeared at other tastings, so I concentrated on Louis Remy, a great Clos de la Roche and a Latricieres-Chambertin that outclassed even that of Drouhin-Laroze and a magnificent Chambertin.
Clos du Tart continued its triumph of last year, but at £1500 the case it is almost twice as expensive as Remy's Chambertin. Why? Finally, the Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Reignots from Comte Liger-Belair showed by this commune gets the prizes for elegance.
There were also a dozen wines presented by Catherine Faller of Domaine Weinbach in Alsace, whose Rieslings were a refreshing end to an exhausting day.
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Wednesday 9 January
BIBENDUM
Alex Gambal's quote that 'Burgundy is a full-contact sport, not a spectator sport' found its proof at Bibendum's tasting on Wednesday evening. Up to then, all the tastings had been for the trade and press, and although both Berry Bros and J&B allowed their private clients to join in later in the evening, these clients, as one might expect from the two St James's Street merchants, were mature and be-suited.
Bibendum's customers were also mostly in suits, having come straight from the office, but were 20 years younger, noisily lapping up the wines and spending freely and openly.
Price has been an issue, but not here. Michael Saunders, MD of Bibendum, said 'we have to price these wines so that NEW clients will buy them, we can't just rely on repeat business'. Probably the best quote I have heard all week so far.
The producers, also, joined in the excitement, with many of the same faces Nicolas Potel, Thierry Matrot, Ghislain Barthod behind their tables, but rising to the occasion of having themselves mobbed by keen punters, rather than questioned by enquiring journalists.
I skipped the Laroche and Wm Fevre Chablis, also the Macons, and went straight to the Cote de Beaune whites.
Brilliant Saint-Aubin 1er Cru en Remilly from Marc Colin, then three classic Mersaults from Francois Jobard, en la Barre, Les Tillets and especially 1er Cru Les Poruzots. Domaine Michelot, which Harry Waugh put on the map in the 1960s when he bought for Harveys, came next with a Meursault-like Bourgone Blanc (very cheap at £75 in bond), and a good 'villages' at £175.
Then Thierry Matrot, a most serious winemaker, with firm rather than fleshy Meursault-Blagny and a superb Puligny-Montrachet Les Chalumeaux. Domaine Latour-Giraud showed another good Poruzots. New to me was Domaine des Forge, owned by a Portuguese family, with a great Saint-Romain Clos Sous le Chateau, good value at £120, and a fine Meursault en la Barre at £185 being £75 cheaper than Jobard's. Similarly good Chassagnes from Morey-Coffinet, whose lovely 1er Cru Les Caillerets is priced at £190, compared to the same cru from Jean-NoelGagnard at Berry Bros for £420.
Then onto the reds starting with Nicolas Potel, whose Clos de la Roche and Chambertin Clos de Beze took my highest marks of the evening. These are superb, classic wines of unbelievably purity. By this time the crush was substantial, and I rushed through Ghislain Barthod's excellent villages Chambolle (£240), a fuller-bodied 1er Cru Aux Beaux Bruns and a great 1er Cru Les Charmes.
Good wines also from Domaine Maume in Gevrey-Chambertin, a stunning Bourgogne Rouge from Domaine Denis Mortet, as good as a Gevrey and a bargain at £130 and a very expressive Gevrey from young vines. Finally, Domaine Hudelot-Noellat with a fine Vosne-Romanee Les Suchots and a classic Clos de Vougeot.
I had to rush off, as my wife and I were dining with Michael and Daphne Broadbent and Robert and Carolyn Cummings at Brookes's Club to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Christie's Wine Course. Burgundy featured with Domaine Leflaive's Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles 1982, my last bottle, before La Lagune and Cos d'Estournel from the same year. The Puligny was still youthful. Hugh and Judy Johnson were on the next table, and I had him served a glass, for it is not often that I drink better wines than he does.
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Thursday 10 January
There were two major merchant tastings yesterday, that of Goedhuis and Co and Lay & Wheeler, but I chose the BIVB tasting at Lords Cricket Ground instead and was happy to have done so.
Over 100 producers were there, some of the great and the good like Faiveley and Louis Jadot, others small growers from the whole of Burgundy from St Bris near Auxerre to the Beaujolais. With value in mind, the organisers had asked each producer to select one wine as their 'Producer's Choice' between £6 and £15 retail.
This aim was to show that 'these middle range wines meet the needs and expectations of today's regular wine consumer and demonstrate that good Burgundy doesn't need to cost the earth.' Imagine the same message from Bordeaux ..
As far as prices go, Philippe de Marcilly of Maison Albert Bichot was clear that 'the UK must understand that wine is now a global phenomenon and that the best wines have a world-wide clientele that a decade ago we had not envisaged. Our new importer in the Ukraine immediately place an order for 150 cases of Chablis Grand Cru La Moutonne [their monopole], which we couldn't supply, but this was over twice the entire UK consumption last year'.
Tim Veale of Mentzendorff echoed this feeling about the Chanson wines: 'the big problem for us is no longer the quality, but the availability'.
It will be too long to pick out the best tables and three days might not have been enough, let alone three hours, but the optimism in the room was plain. The Maconnais wines were just lovely, exactly what one wants to drink, young and fruity with class and good origin and mostly below £10. Another superb Montagny domaine, Feuillat-Juillot (Francoise Feuillat is Michel Juillot's daughter) stood out in this appellation with the same 1er Cru Les Coeres that had impressed me so much from Stephane Aladame.
Other wines that impressed me were Domaine Henri & Gilles Buisson's Saint-Romain 2006 white, Domaine Claude Nouveau's 2005 white Santenay, Chanson's Vire Clesse 2006, Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits 2005 red from Domaine AF Gros & Francois Parent, Pernand-Vergellesses 2006 red from Rapet and Volnay 2005 from Georges Glantenay. All these were in the £16-£15 range.
Alain Jeanniard, whose wines had so impressed me at Haynes Hanson and Clark on Tuesday, a domaine he started in 2000 with half a hectare inherited from his grandmother, summed up the two vintages: 'two good years, one to keep (2005) and one to drink (2006)'.
With than in mind, I left for Corney and Barrow's event.
CORNEY AND BARROW
My fellow Decanter columnist Stephen Brook and I arrived at the same time, and I asked him for a quote. 'I am worried by the over-ripe white wines and am not sure that the theory that whites are better than reds in 2006 will be confirmed over time,' he said.
My advice to Stephen, and I hope I follow it myself, is to drink them young.
Compared to the other merchant tastings, Corney's was small but classy 'noblesse oblige'.
In the whites the Matrot wines impressed me again, this time the Meursault-Charmes beating the Mersault-Blagny. Fine wines from Patrick Javillier, all bottled in November to keep the fruit: their Bourgogne Blanc Cuvee des Forgets (£105) comes from vines on the edge of Meursault and tastes like it. Aubert de Villaine's Rully 1er Cru Les Saint Jacques (£145) was the best Rully so far and likely to remain so.
Francois Labet showed some very pure whites, delicious Chardonnay Vieilles Vignes and fine Beaune Clos du Dessus des Marconnets and his Chateau de la Tour Clos de Vougeot Vieilles Vignes (yes, old vines, planted in 1910!) was the greatest red of the day and not over-priced at £760.
As for the other reds, Domaine des Varoilles impressed in a rather robust style, Rossignol-Trapet showed superb elegance as well as ripe extraction with a great value Beaune Les Teurons at £180.
Domaine Jea & Jean-Louis Trapet were more intellectual in style, their Latricieres-Chambertin being the best Latricieres so far. Finally, both Bertrand Marchand de Gramont and Domaine de l'Arlot showed how Nuits-Saint-Georges in 2006 still retains it gamey/briary character, even in what is supposed to be a 'light vintage'.
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Friday 11 January
LEA & SANDEMAN Charles Lea and Patrick Sandeman are my favourite wine merchants in London. Charles worked for me at my Caves de la Madeleine [wine merchant in Paris] right out of school in the mid 1970s. I worked with them both at Laytons and then they bought the Caves de la Madeleine shop in the Fulham Road in London from Laytons and some of the Paris growers' bottles are still on the shelves, made by the younger generation. Charles is the French buyer, Patrick for Spain and Italy. Here is Charles on 2006:
'I was surprised this autumn by how good the reds were: the 2006s have precision, fruit and balance and the Cote de Nuits will show very successfully, but always overshadowed by 2005. The fruit on the whites is terrific. In 2005 some were very successful, some less successful, in 2006 most of them are good, and while the date of picking was important, it was the quality of the vineyard and cellar work that mattered more. Most will be ready this year.
'As for prices, I have persuaded growers to keep them as near to 2005 as possible. The very top wines will sell immediately to an international clientele. The 'village' wines will sell very easily and as these come in large quantities, they will re-appear on our list at a higher price. For the Premiers Crus in the middle, we are here to offer our selection and our advice.'
WHITES
First off was their habitual Chablis grower, Adhemar et Francois Boudin, whose 2000 1er Cru Fourchaume I served for my daughter's wedding in 2003 and whose 2006 doesn't have quite the length, but is terrific value at £105 in bond.
Then a range of wines from Verget and I find that Jean-Marie Guffens is lightening his touch, or maybe just the vintage has offered finesse without concentration. His Pouilly-Fuisse Terroirs de Vergisson La Roche (£145) was splendid and his own domaine Guffens-Heynen Macon Pierreclos were in another league altogether, but also another price range at £220. If you want a fresh yet succulent domaine bottle Pouilly-Fuisse, go for Daniel Barraud's Vieilles Vignes at £140.
From the Cote-Chalonnaise, a fine Givry 1er Cru from Francois Lumpp (£145) led up to a very pretty, minerally Hautes Cotes de Nuits Cuvee Marine from Anne Gros (£135) that I plan to be drinking this summer.
Then brilliant Saint-Aubins from Hubert Lamy, but at a price, as his superb 1er Cru en Remilly costs £195 compared to the same cru from Marc Colin for £145 at Bibendum. Very elegant Chassagne-Montrachets from Fernand & Laurent Pillot, Les Morgeots being well-priced at £210 and the very long Les Grandes Ruchottes worth the extra at £275. Two Meursault-based Jobard domaines followed, with Remi Jobard's Les Genevrieres £395) getting the edge from me over Jobard-Chabloz's Les Charmes (£325), the house style of the former having great vineyard depth and energy. Domaine Henri Germain kept the Mersault flag flying with his fabulous Les Charmes (£350). Jean-Marc Boillot's Pulignys were really lovely, some of the very best of the week, with 1er Cru Champ-Canet being top flight (£395).
Henri Boillot took the Puligny prize, though, with his dense and complex 1er Cru Clos de la Mouchere' (a monopole) and his Les Pucelles at £430 and £440 respectively. Restaurateur Nigel Platts-Martin (The Square, Chez Bruce, The Ledbury) remarked that he was going to 'get moving on these whites right away'.
REDS Francois Lumpp kicked off the reds with his tiny, elegant labels that resemble the classiest visiting cards. His fruity, fleshy, smooth yet tannic 1er Cru Vigne Rouge is probably another wine for the Spurrier cellar at £160 and at £115, Thibault Liger-Belair's briary, fruity Hautes Cotes de Nuits is likely to join it.
Then a superb, really exceptional range of 2006s from Nicolas Rossignol, which showed that colour and extraction really worked well here, but smooth tannins will make them approachable from 2009. Charles Lea told me that Nicolas Rossignol is a cousin of Michel Ampeau and that many of the wines were from Ampeau vineyards. The Savigny-Les-Beaune 1er Cru Fourneaux (£160) more resembled a 1er Cru Beaune and Volnay 1er Cru Roncerets (£290) and 1er Cru Caillerets (£320) had astounding depth, while keeping the elegance of Volnay.
Comte Armand's Pommard 1er Cru Les Epeneaux (£210) suffered coming after these, so did the Chandon de Briailles range as their colours were so light, but I love these feminine bio-dynamic wines and they improve greatly in bottle. Then a quartet of Domaine de Courcel Pommards, showing much better than at Loeb's two days before and this time their Rugiens (£410) can rival that of de Montille, though in a quite different style.
Henri Boillot proved that he was equally good at reds as at whites, classic wines that will age well, the best being his 1er Cru Les Caillerets at £395.
Up into the Cotes de Nuits with two spicy, defined fruit Gevrys from Thierry Mortet, followed by a range of 9 wines from J Confuron-Cotetidot for which I scribbled 'all classic and genuine and very pure'. Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Vignes Rondes (£345) took my vote, alongside a beautifully crafted Echezeaux at £510. Two more lovely wines from Thibault Liger-Belair came near the end: a seductive Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Gruenchers (£365) and an expressive Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Saint-Georges (£385), but the triumph came with his Richebourg (£730 for six bottles) a wine of such depth and vineyard quality that I was mean in giving it only 19/20. This was the best red of the week. The Clos de Tart (£750 for six bottles) followed, a great wine certainly as it had shown itself all week, but the Richebourg was for me in another sphere.
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Decanter's consultant editor Steven Spurrier brings you his impressions of the new wines at the 2006 Burgundy tastings.
