2006 Maison Joseph Drouhin Musigny Grand Cru

Musky floral notes suggesting narcissus, magnolia, and perhaps some sort of exotic orchid mingle in the nose of Drouhin's 2006 Musigny with quinine, birch beer, and kirsch. The palate boasts remarkable richness and sheer viscosity for the vintage – though little superficial sweetness – along with textural refinement that goes beyond even the best of the rest of this year's Drouhin collection. Fruit pit bitterness; brown spices; roasting pan reduction of meat and fat; and an almost palpable sense of chalky and ore-like minerality add to the mystery and invigoration of a vibratory finish. This tastes awfully delicious today, though it should probably be given a few years in bottle. It ought to perform marvelously for at least a decade. "I was skeptical when the harvest came," says Philippe Drouhin about 2006, "because the weather had been so hectic; we had to sort the grapes; and it was not as nice as '05. But the more I tasted the '06s in the course of the year, the more I liked them." Winemaker Jerome Faure-Brac says he was hyper-cautious about avoiding the extraction of bitterness or under-ripeness, and employed vendange entier (whole clusters with stems) on a significant share of the grands (and top premiers) crus, but only in conjunction with rigorous table-sorting. Most came in at 13-13.5% potential alcohol. The wines were bottled about as early as they ever have been at Drouhin, to preserve and avoid drying out the fruit. (Just as elsewhere in this report, I have frequently indicated in my tasting note whether the source of grapes is the family's domaine or contract fruit, but have not attempted to reflect this as part of the descriptions used to identify the wines.) Importer: Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818-0770