2006 Vosne Romanee Les Suchots

Plum and dark cherry mingled with iris perfume, mint, cumin and black pepper on the nose of the l'Arlot 2006 Vosne Arlot Romanee Les Suchots, which comes onto the palate creamy and richly-fruited as well as possessed of alluring, bitter-sweet inner-mouth florality. A depth of smoked meat, chalk, and illusive, savory, saline mineral and animal elements persists onto a finish whose peppery pungency and impingement of berry skin tartness serve for invigoration, while sweet flesh of the fruits and persistent perfume exercise soothing seduction. There is plenty of tannin present, just of a most refined sort. This should be worth following for ten or a dozen years, but like so many of the best 2006s, it is unlikely to disappoint if drunk young. Director Olivier Leriche is one of those who share my impression that Nuits-St.-Georges was especially favored in 2006, and not merely for having been spared hail. That said, he reports having had to be rigorously selective, cautious with fermentative extraction, and having retained stems and whole bunches less often and then in lower percentages than he had in 2005. As usual in this cellar, malo-lactic transformation did not even wait on the warmth of Spring, by which time the wines were given a first racking. They show a remarkable degree of youthful charm considering the frequent tendency of young wines at this estate to elevate cut and structure over youthful sensual appeal. (A comparison with a couple of the estate's 2001s and 2002s revealed the similarity of 2006 here to the latter.) Numerous agents and U.S. importers including: Chambers & Chambers, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 642-5500, Classic Wine Imports, Norwood, MA, tel. (781) 352-1100, and a Daniel Johnnes Selection, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300