The Goisot 2006 Cotes d’Auxerre Gondonne is grown on an unusually dense, south-exposed melange of Marne clay and fossil-rich Kimmeridgian limestone, planted largely with a Raveneau selection of vines. A silken richness of texture testifies to the continued benefits of a passive stay on the lees after blending, and a palpable sense of chalk as well as lees seems to suffuse this impressive young wine. Orange zest, toasted nuts, and lemon pip accent its plum, cherry, and chicken stock flavors, and inform a dense, structured palate, leading to a long, savory finish, broader and less bright and complex than that of the Biaumont. This received 20% new barrels, whereas the other two Goisot single-vineyard bottlings are vinified entirely in used barrels. The (inaugural) 2002 vintage of Gondonne is drinking wonderfully as well as relatively youthfully today (92, to put a point score on it), but that is a wine from what Goisots don’t hesitate to call their “best vintage of the last 20 years.” I would plan tentatively to drink the 2006 over the next 4-6 years. The so-called “Corps de Garde” bottling of Cotes d’Auxerre will – following decades long practice – be assembled out of selected barrels from each of the Goisots’ three best sites, but that marriage had not been consummated when I last tasted. The Goisots farmed organically before that implied any fashion statement, and have long been the foremost vintners of appellation Saint-Bris (Sauvignon Blanc). Their Chardonnays of Cotes d’Auxerre appellation have been enhanced in recent vintages by the addition of barrel-fermented bottlings from individual sites that offer a level of complexity comparable to top-notch premier cru Chablis.Importer:Thomas Calder Selections (various importers), Paris; fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29