2006 Domaine Joseph Roty Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru

More ripe cherries and raspberries – of which there have been quite a lot in this collection – characterize the Roty 2006 Griotte-Chambertin, here accompanied by a peat-like, smoky pungency and tactile suggestions of pepper and mineral ores all of which are commonly associated (whether or not there is underlying causation) with the iron-rich chalk characteristic for this famous site. The tannins here are more evident than in the corresponding Mazis and numb the gums slightly. This site was at the center of one of the vintage's notorious hails. But then again, the Rotys seems to have removed all traces of taint from other affected sights. According to Philippe Roty, the berries in his Griotte are always among the estate's smallest, and sheer surface-to-juice ratio largely accounts from the structural difference between these two wines. In any case, this is formidable, grippingly-finishing Pinot probably worth following for a dozen or more years, even if hardly in the same league with the 2005. But I would wait several to revisit, even if it were with my fingers crossed. Philippe Roty is among the many growers to assert that under-ripe fruit rather than rot was what really drove his 2006 selection process. "But, hail or no hail, I do a strict triage regardless; and besides" he notes with a laugh, "it hails every year in at least one part of Marsannay." He picked in a relative hurry the last week of September, because "as far as I'm concerned, above 13% potential alcohol you have surmaturite, and that's not good." Besides, like the Mugneret sisters and a considerable number of other top-notch growers, Roty favors routinely – if only slightly – chaptalizing his entire range to promote longer and, he believes, flavor- and texture-enhancing fermentation. (While I have mentioned in the text of my tasting notes those wines that are part of the personal domaine of Philippe Roty and bottled under his name, I have not reflected this in the naming of the wines, as the same label is used for those as for the Domaine Joseph Roty wines and they are all vinified and aged together by the same team.) Importer: Alain Junguenet, Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ; tel. (908) 654-6173