2006 Richebourg

Deep red, a bit less saturated than the Clos Vougeot. Sappy dark fruits, flowers and spices on the nose, complemented by an exotic suggestion of white peach. Suave and supple, seemingly more open-knit and easier to taste today than the Clos Vougeot, with exotic floral lift adding to its early appeal. As sappy as this is, it's also quite sweet and pliant today. Broader than its stablemate but is it as fine?

Deep red. Captivating aromas of crushed raspberry, minerals and spices. Wonderfully pure and dense yet weightless, with explosive, highly aromatic flavors of raspberry, violet and minerals; this really saturates the entire palate. Despite its impressive tannic grip and obviously serious structure for aging, there's nothing aggressive about this Richebourg. With its voluptuous, tactile mouth feel I could have sucked this up straight from the barrel. A great 2006 in the making.

Even Anne Gros's 2006 Richebourg follows the vintage penchant for accessibility and forward fruit. Sweetly ripe, almost liqueur-like, yet persistently bright cherry and raspberry are accompanied by savory saline minerality and deep meatiness. Lily-like sweet perfume wafts throughout, and is complimented by hints of vanilla and caramel from the barrel. Like the other wines in its collection, this finishes with vibrancy and intensity as well as generosity. As the primary fruitiness and oak influence fades, it may reveal a more "serious" side than it does now, and perhaps also more obvious structure, as one generally expects of this appellation, but it is gorgeous as is. I would tentatively plan on following it for a decade, but one really needs to re-assess this wine's longer-term potential after it has been in bottle for a few years. Dec 2009, www.robertparker.com