2006 Camille Giroud Latricieres-Chambertin Grand Cru

From a combination of contract grapes and purchased wine, the Camille Giroud 2006 Latricieres-Chambertin displays slightly stewed black fruit richness; chalk, stone, and graphite mineral suggestions; and smoky, peaty, pungently herbal and tobacco accents. While these aromatics are impressive, and the wine finishes with palate-staining persistence and a sense of depth, it is relatively somber as well as chewy, raising an inkling of doubt about the quality of its tannin when compared with the corresponding Charmes. I would want to taste it again before rendering a prognosis as to mid-term bottle maturation. Croix believes that the two portions of the wine had not yet married when I tasted the blend from tank. David Croix racked his 2006s into tank earlier than normal in an attempt to preserve the maximum of fruit. (For details about the recent revival of Camille Giroud and about David Croix's approach, readers are referred to reports in issues 160 and 170 respectively. A Gevrey-Chambertin En Champs was too reduced from tank when I last tasted it to adequately access, but it definitely displayed potential and reflected its old vines of a tiny-berried selection; while a Clos Vougeot from purchased fruit was stuck in protracted malo.) A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet (various importers); fax 011-333-80-24-29-70