2006 - Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Chaumes, Arnoux-Lachaux

Like his Nuits from the Corvees Pagets, Lachaux's 2006 Vosne Romanee Les Chaumes exhibits unusual sheer density for its vintage, allied to refined texture and a sense of energy, fluidity, and sheer primary fruit juiciness. Bittersweet black fruits, flowers, and herbal concentrates – as well as their high-toned, distillate-like aromatic counterparts – mingle with smoked meat and focus to a strikingly piquant point in the finish, yet the wine's bitter and chalky elements do not drive it into austerity thanks to its clear, pure fruit vivacity that leaves your palate feeling cleansed and invigorated. I would wait a few years to revisit this and count on a dozen or more of very active life. Pascal Lachaux – who subscribes to the prevalent notion that this vintage reflects elements of 2000 and 2002 – is one of the very few red Burgundy growers (Rouget another) whose 2006s strike me as outclassing their 2005s. It's possible that his having had a prior vintage to become accustomed to the opportunities afforded by his spacious new, gravity flow cellar contributed to his success this year. And it's of course also possible that I have under- or over-rated one of these vintages. Lachaux – who defends 2005 as one of his best-ever collections – concurs in finding each 2006 typical for its site as well as more expressive than his 2005s have thus far been, and in the observation that these 2006s improve as they open to the air, suggesting to me considerable longer-term cellaring potential than one can expect from most wines of the vintage. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990

Bright, deep red with ruby highlights; darker than the 2007 version. Vibrant aromas of blackberry, licorice, violet and menthol. Firm and intense, with very good sweetness and fleshiness to the dark berry and bitter chocolate flavors. The tannins are a bit stern but arrive late. I like the high-pitched fruit notes and lingering minerality on the broad finish.