2006 - Chablis Grand Cru Preuses, Vincent Dauvissat

From cask, Dauvissat’s 2006 Chablis Preuses smells of toasted grain, roasted nuts, pungent buckwheat, ripe peach, high-toned floral perfume suggesting gentian, and ocean breeze. An amazing depth of indescribable minerality – approximating meat stock and crustacean reduction, with suggestions of soy – saturates the palate, leading to a generous yet still mysteriously savory, mouth-watering finish that contrasts dramatically with the chalky, faintly bitter character of the La Forest. This should become an extraordinary example of terroir and minerality within the context of enveloping richness, and of richness without the least bit of heaviness, and should mature excitingly for the next 12-15 years. Not that I would feel any compunction about pulling a cork now. “Compulsion” would be a better word for what I would feel if I were sitting on bottles of this gem! Exotically ripe, honeyed, almost buttery in texture, yet with palate-nipping hints of botrytis, the 2005 Preuses finds room for some mysterious, savory mineral nuances as well, but is not in the exalted class of this 2006. Vincent Dauvissat’s 2006s were finished with both alcoholic fermentation and malolactic transformation by January. Overall – and particularly in the Grand Cru range – Dauvissat’s 2005s are marginally less exciting than his 2006s, and in certain instances, surprisingly, more opulent and exotically ripe. In both recent vintages, Dauvissat’s wines (even the generics) are pushing 14% alcohol, although in tasting the 2006s in particular, you’d never guess this. Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802. (Under the “Dauvissat-Camus” label, certain of these wines are also imported by Classic Wine Imports, Boston, MA; tel. (781) 352-1100.)

Bright, pale yellow. Reticent but very pure nose features slightly metallic aromas of exotic flowers, mirabelle, spices, vanilla and minerals. Wonderfully silky, thick and deep but extremely unevolved today and not yet showing its personality. But this compellingly tactile, powerful and rich wine stains the palate with unflagging citrus, floral and wet stone flavors. An infant today.