2006 Charmes Chambertin

Good medium red. Perfumed, soil-inflected aromas of cherry, smoke, spices and dried flowers; very Charmes. Silky on entry, then suave and sweet in the middle, with terrific energy to the almost medicinal cherry and spice flavors. Perhaps best today on the bright, very long back end, which features an explosion of flowers. A beauty-and built for aging.

(Boillot notes that this fruit comes from a little dip in the hillside, just below Chambertin) Deep, bright red. Captivating, highly complex aromas of maraschino cherry, rose petal, mocha and smoke. Quite fine and perfumed in the mouth, offering red fruit flavors enlivened by juicy acidity and nuances of rose petal, minerals and orange peel. This is almost Chambolle-like in style. Finishes sappy, crisp and very long, with firm but fine tannins and lovely lingering perfume. When I mentioned to Boillot that I found more aromatic precision in this sample than in the 2005 version at the same stage, he responded that the 2005 is more compact, and that the extravagant ripeness of '05 has blocked the terroir a bit.