2006 Joseph Drouhin, Grands Echezeaux Grand Cru

Black tea; ethereal peony and hyacinth floral perfume; musk; peat; and fresh red raspberry scent the Drouhin 2006 Grands Echezeaux. Inclusion of stems here does not seem to have resulted in awkward tannins or any vegetal notes. Tender in texture, with its tannins fine-grained and sublimated, this is one of those Burgundian Pinots that transports you far beyond fruits and berries, finishing in a rather mysterious realm of forest floor, flowers, stones, and mammalian wild things. Suggestions of iodine, fruit pit, and ocean water add further complexity to the long though discreet finish. Like so many of this year's Drouhin successes, this walks its terroir softly and is too charming and polite even to want to carry a big stick. I would plan on following it for 6-8 years. "I was skeptical when the harvest came," says Philippe Drouhin about 2006, "because the weather had been so hectic; we had to sort the grapes; and it was not as nice as '05. But the more I tasted the '06s in the course of the year, the more I liked them." Winemaker Jerome Faure-Brac says he was hyper-cautious about avoiding the extraction of bitterness or under-ripeness, and employed vendange entier (whole clusters with stems) on a significant share of the grands (and top premiers) crus, but only in conjunction with rigorous table-sorting. Most came in at 13-13.5% potential alcohol. The wines were bottled about as early as they ever have been at Drouhin, to preserve and avoid drying out the fruit. (Just as elsewhere in this report, I have frequently indicated in my tasting note whether the source of grapes is the family's domaine or contract fruit, but have not attempted to reflect this as part of the descriptions used to identify the wines.) Importer: Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818-0770

Tasted at the IMW horizontal at Vintners Hall. Light red-berried fruits on the nose, clean and crisp, some vanillary oak rather obfuscating with more aeration. The palate is well-balanced, chewy tannins, lots of slightly leafy red-berried fruits but it certainly has an elegance and a charm about it. Wild strawberry a touch of black pepper lacing the finish. Approachable, not intellectual but the silky finish is more agreeable. Well-crafted, quite regal. Drink now-2020+ Tasted March 2009.

Palish red. Aromas of raspberry, smoke, earth and dried rose. Supple, round and fairly full, with strong soil tones and an impression of solid extract. There's a sweetness here, and the dusty tannins are fairly fine-grained, but this rather brooding wine is quite closed and in need of patience.