2006 Domaine Leroy Musigny Grand Cru

Initially a bit reduced, the Leroy 2006 Musigny responded to a shaking, blossoming into a wealth of floral perfumes, ripe fresh red fruits, citrus oils, and marine breeze. Strikingly vivacious and buoyant on the palate as well as silken in texture, this at the same time reveals a deeply meaty and stony undertone. The finish dynamically weaves its berry-intense, carnal, mineral, and floral strands into a long, colorful braid. And in the empty glass you realize that the spell of reduction is now completely broken and an eruption of floral perfume and of spirituous as well as fresh red fruit essences ensues. This is another great 2006 representative of its site in the making, as well as another demonstration of how beautifully suited the vintage is to expressing this site's virtues and vice-versa. The results achieved by Lalou Bize-Leroy in 2006 are all the more notable in view of the misgivings she expressed early on about this vintage. (And, as her reaction to 2004 demonstrates, she will not shy away from declassifying even her entire production if she feels that the wines are not up to their terroir pedigrees.) As voluptuously rich as are Bize-Leroy's 2006 reds, they preserve the sense of buoyancy and elegance common to so many of the standouts of this vintage, and one's gums will not come away fatigued by the strength of underlying tannin or the near-hyper-concentration displayed by her – to be sure awesome – 2005s. As every year, these wines represent meticulous vine manicure; miniscule yields ("above all regulated by severe pruning, not triage," Bize-Leroy emphasizes); and fidelity to biodynamic methods and metaphysics; and were bottled in the second December following the harvest. Despite their winsomeness, they have long life expectancies. Since, however, I have very little experience of their predecessors as they have matured, I have confined my prognostication to a few isolated and very general comments in the tasting notes that follow. Note that I have included as well under the heading "Leroy" the wines of Madame Bize-Leroy's Domaine d'Auvenay – its cellars located outside Saint-Romain – which now encompass two appellations in red, since inevitably when information is being sought about these wines, and even often when they are described, it is under the name "Leroy." Importer: Martine’s Wines. Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-040