2006 Domaine Daniel Bocquenet Nuits-Saint-Georges Aux

Bocquenet's 2006 Nuits-St.-Georges Aux St.-Julien features subtly jam-like yet tart-edged black fruits with overtones of coconut, brown spices, and vanilla. Surprisingly plush for the vintage, this finishes effusively, with sappy intensity and just a faint hint of heat. I would be inclined to enjoy this over the next 4-5 years. Bocquenet (about whom I wrote more in issue 170) has a habit of excelling in difficult vintages while retaining a regimen of relatively aggressive extraction and 100% new wood. His approach did not let him or his customers down in 2006, and negociant demand was still strong when the wines were in barrel, so Bocquenet was able to readily sell off any lots or barrels he chose to, in order to enhance the quality of what he eventually bottled himself. He thinks his 2006s – which spent from September, 2007 through late Spring 2008 assembled in tank – have both more charm and, surprisingly, more fat than his 2005s, and I would not disagree, although they are less clear or complex. A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93