2006 Domaine François Bertheau Chambolle-Musigny Les Charmes 1er Cru

Youthfully yeasty and pungently herbal notes mingle with those of sour cherry, holly, and citrus oil in the nose of the Bertheau 2006 Chambolle-Musigny Les Charmes. Smoked meat joins the aforementioned elements on the fine-grained, refreshing palate, and the flavors take a dark turn with the arrival of black pepper, fresh ginger, forest floor, moss, and game notes as it heads into a long, savory and piquant finish. There is just a faint hint of heat hanging about the finish here. The Bertheaus harvested in the low-to-mid 12s but routinely chaptalize, in this vintage around one degree. This should be worth following for 6-8 years. Francois Bertheau seemed to shrug-off the challenges of hail and rot in 2006 with the comment: "Triage is normal practice for us." Already in 2008, he professed not to recall when he had picked 2006s, but assured me that "it took four days, as usual," Bertheau also professed to essentially the same fermentative and aging regimen as in other years (for more about which, consult my report in issue 171). You can't argue with the results – though some purists may object to relatively high levels of volatile acidity that are for me part and parcel of the bright, penetrating house style – even if these wines do not approach the quality of the estate's exceptional 2005s. Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524