The Pacalet 2006 Charmes-Chambertin – once again comprising of about one half each Mazoyeres and true Charmes – smells strikingly of iris, distilled red fruits, almond extract, peat, and red licorice; saturates the palate with a silken covering of bright, tart cherry tinged with cherry pit and underlain with beef marrow; and finishes with refined, multifarious, penetrating length. I get less sense of mineral mystery than from the corresponding Lavaux, but this in its way equally convinces that you'll be able to derive further fascination and pleasure from it for half a dozen or more years. The elevage for his 2006s was a bit precocious, says Pacalet, though this was not for want of his trying to slow things down and give the wines time to fatten on their lees. In most essentials, however – including his fidelity to whole clusters and stems and abhorrence of sulfur – Pacalet treated this crop much as he had its illustrious 2005 predecessor. (For further details on Pacalet's unorthodox methods, readers are encouraged to consult my report in issue 171. And please be aware that these wine demand ideal storage in order not to risk spoilage.) Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 334 8191