2006 Clos Vougeot

The Bouchard domaine 2006 Clos Vougeot (there is also a bottling from purchased fruit) smells of diverse ripe berries with hints of smoke and resin; comes onto the palate with ample, lightly-cooked fruit allied to multi-boned meat stock and dusted with brown spices. This site-typical Pinot exhibits impressive depth and saliva-inducing finishing savor, and while it may never be winsome or elegant, it is sufficiently structured, interesting, and viscerally compelling to merit following for at least half a dozen years. Director Philippe Prost emphasized the importance of flexible and surgical picking (with a crew numbering upwards of 300) and getting his crop to Bouchard's battery of presses within two hours via a fleet of mini-vans. He insists that relatively little triage was necessary on the domaine vineyards (as opposed to those under contract) and the estate wines are certainly predictably stronger as a group. (I have generally mentioned in the notes that follow which wines are from Bouchard's domaine and which from contract fruit, but have explicitly noted this as part of a wine's description, only if there are two versions of the same appellation within the present portfolio.) The fruit was crushed very gently and the wines racked only once – at 10-14 months, than usual – explains Prost, in order to guard against exposed or drying tannins, a policy which my tastings suggest was generally successful. Importer: Henriot, Inc, New York, NY; tel. (212) 605-6767