2006 Domaine Dujac, Clos Saint-Denis Grand Cru

The Dujac 2006 Clos St.-Denis offers an interactive welter of aromas and flavors. High-toned kirsch, pistachio extract, peony, and ripe red fruits in the nose are joined by bitter-sweet dark chocolate, brown spices, clean red meatiness, and a cool, wet stone impression of minerality. There boasts exceptionally refined tannins in the context of the vintage, and a lot of energy, powering an exhilarating, multi-registered, and truly kaleidoscopic finish. It should cellar well for a dozen or more years, and I suspect it is less likely to close up temporarily than the 2005, with which it will inevitably – and entirely without hyperbole on the part of the taster or embarrassment on the part of the 2006! – be compared. Jeremy Seysses only destemmed a minority of his 2006 fruit, and in some appellations none. The results demonstrate that Dujac got things ripe – not to mention right – in a challenging vintage, with a collection that need not fear comparison with 2005 at this address. (Perhaps, if anything, 2005 ought to look to its laurels!) The team here started picking only on September 23, and then very meticulously and selectively. Clos de la Roche, for example, was picked in two passes nearly a week apart. The top wines came in at between 13 and 13.5% natural alcohol, with minimal chaptalization employed in some instances to extend fermentation. "Color and flavor extraction was easy," says Seysses, "and we did more punch-downs than in 2005, because we felt quite confident of our material. The fruit is fresh and crisp, but not green, and we had no jamminess. It was just right. There's very little to complain about." Indeed! Importer: The Sorting Table, Napa, CA; tel. (415) 491-4724

The 2006 Clos St Denis from Domaine Dujac, tasted blind, is developing into one of the best wines in the Côte de Nuits apropos this inconsistent vintage. It comes at you with its vibrant raspberry fruit - no holding back here. There is a touch of glossiness at first and then this makes way for subtle game and leather scents (in fact, one fellow taster commented that it was just a little sweaty, but in a good way). The palate is underpinned by plenty of sweet red berry fruit, that gaminess continuing from the aromatics, erring just slightly towards a Côte-Rôtie-like finish. There is an opulence here, but it is not garish or vulgar. It's just a Clos Saint Denis self-aware of its quality and has nurtured a bit of...cockiness. This is well worth hunting down.

Bright, deep red. Knockout nose offers pure, delineated aromas of red berries, spices, minerals, rose petal and violet. A suave and spicy fruit bomb in the mouth, with a floral element perfuming the palate. This has even more density and volume than the superb 2007. Finishes wonderfully sappy and firm, with fine tannins dusting the palate. A Burgundy lover's wine.

Christie's dinner before the King's College, Cambridge sale . Rich with the orange-peel notes I associate with Morey-St-Denis. Really broad and voluptuous. (JR)