2006 Domaine Arlaud Père & Fils Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

Arlaud's 2006 Charmes Chambertin – a bit like the corresponding Clos de la Roche – is impressively concentrated, but a bit awkward in tannins and inharmonious at present. High-toned kirsch and assorted distilled berry aromas push into the volatile spectrum, although along with that comes an admirable brightness and finishing penetration. Suggestions of licorice help convey a rough sense of place. Time will tell whether this was perturbed merely short term. Cyprien Arlaud – for more about whose very much family domaine and its recent progress and expansion, consult my report in issue 170 – harvested from September 23 through October 3, ending up with around a quarter less production than in 2005, and wines on which he reports having held back comparatively on fermentative extraction. The relatively low pH levels enhanced stability, says Arlaud, and they certainly help account for the tart edges and vivacity of the fruit character in so many of his wines. Save for the large volume of Bourgogne (bottled in January, 2008), all of the Arlaud 2006s were bottled in December, 2007, and Cyprien Arlaud is hypothesizing in retrospect that perhaps this has temporarily stunted certain wines whose bottlings might better have been postponed. (Note, though, that the wines are neither pumped nor filtered here now.) This explains the number of plus signs and question marks I employed in an attempt to offer shorthand accounts of my reactions, in many cases to hints of reduction, tightness, or tannic perturbation. A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93