The 2006 Marsannay L’Ancestral represents the latest edition – just 75 cases worth – of Pataille's late-bottled homage to an earlier era (a project described extensively in my issue 117 report). Subtly gamey, resinous, smoky, and decadently faded lily aromas adhere to glycerin-rich cassis on a palate that offers amazing textural refinement considering this is a wine only half of whose fruit was destemmed; that was pressed and macerated a l'ancienne; and that originates in a vintage when several Pataille wines were handicapped by their tannins. This finishes strongly, once again offering a lot of intrigue and promising to be very interesting to follow from bottle, albeit at a high bottle price.
Sylvain Pataille (for more about whose fascinating projects, consult my report in issue 171) harvested late (starting September 25) and then quickly, strictly selecting his fruit, and netting yields that were very low. He felt confident in retaining a high percentage of whole clusters and stems – as he had in 2005 – but I found astringency and incipient brett diminished the appeal of several wines (cuvees which, unsurprisingly, Pataille took the precaution of filtering this year).
A Becky Wassserman Selection (various importers), Le Serbet, Beaune; fax 011-33-3-80-24-29-70
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