2006 Chapelle Chambertin Vieilles Vignes

The fruit for Perrot-Minot's 2006 Chapelle-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes, he reports, took two days of sorting, berry-by-berry, to avoid any taint of hail. Intensely-concentrated blackberry, cassis, peat, and savory, salted beef stock inform a seamlessly-rich, plush palate whose fine tannins have been almost completely sublimated. But for all of its density, when compared with the premier cru bottlings here this year, this Chapelle displays tension and vivacity that set up an enervating interplay of finishing flavors without depriving the taster of one bit of the succulence and juiciness promised on the mid-palate. This kinetic, tiny-berried, multi-boned grand cru reduction should be worth following for 12-15 years. Christophe Perrot-Minot - for more on whose fanatic methodology and old vines sites, readers should consult my issue 170 report - says his 2006 crop came in at a mere 25-30 hectoliters per hectare before it hit the sorting tables, where each cluster was destemmed and picked-over by hand before making the final cut. The result was a collection much reduced in volume as well as in number of bottlings (of which I did not, sadly, taste nearly all). Results reflected a conscious diminution of active fermentative extraction (with most of that pumping-over, not punching-down), a tendency Perrot-Minot has followed in recent years even abstracting from the vicissitudes of vintage; and pressing was, he reports, as gentle as mechanically possible. When it comes to new wood, though, Perrot-Minot says he backed off only a little bit from the levels of 2005. All in all, the house style strikes me as better-suited to the inherent structure, clarity, and bridled power of 2005 than to what Perrot-Minot - like most growers - talks about as the "elegance and finesse" - even "airiness" of 2006. I think it entirely fair to say that this collection departs from its vintage, and perhaps the word "transcends" might be more appropriate - at least, with a decade's hindsight! Incidentally, suggested retail prices for these rare wines have taken a significant jump this vintage, although the market reality may be less dramatic. (I have not tried to distinguish in the description of these wines those that are bottled under the "Henri Perrot-Minot" name, since their labels are otherwise indistinguishable and the matter of solely legalistic significance.) Importer: Martine's Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400