The Verget 2006 Chablis Fourchaumes in fact comes from Vaulorent, adjacent to Preuses and Bougros. Vinified exclusively in concrete and bottled early, it repaid that consideration by retaining brightness and invigoration in spades. Nettle and rhubarb, lime and grapefruit mark the nose and palate, and the richness on display here is that of chalky extract rather than exotic ripeness or tropical fruit. Suggestions of iodine join in the clear, penetrating, and still overtly chalky finish. I suspect this will always behave on the austere side, but should be worth following for at least 4-6 years. Jean-Marie Guffens has gone back to vinifying Chablis at his facility in the Macon, immediately after pressing in Chablis (a residency required for appellation controlee) and a highly selective separation of the juice. Guffens was quite bullish on the 2006 vintage – although he characterizes it as “exotic” rather than “classic” – and could afford to be, after having sat out 2005, and given the early harvest in 2006. (It’s always harder, he points out, to get growers to collaborate in a vintage that demands risky restraint and late picking, as did 2007, when Guffens purchased fruit from only a single supplier and cru.) Even given early picking to retain acidity, says Guffens, the freshness and length that characterize the best of them would not have been possible save for two factors. Most important were the relatively low pH levels that characterized the 2006 fruit. But secondly, the levels of total acidity actually rose during fermentation (presumably a function of the production of succinic acid as a fermentative by-product, a phenomenon in many ripe Riesling vintages as well).Importer: A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93