From old family holdings in Saint-Bris, the 2006 Bourgogne Aligote Domaine Sainte Claire offers surprisingly sweet apricot and persimmon fruit, along with bright lemon and a shimmering sense of saline and crystalline minerality as uncanny as it is hard to further describe. With surprising, leesy textural richness, and striking an excellent balance between substantiality and refreshment, this is (like the corresponding wine of Goisot) another demonstration of how under-rated is this much-derided grape, at least when grown in the proper places and vinified with love. It can be enjoyed over the next 2-3 years. Since my visit, Quebecois cellarmaster Patrick Piuze, who arrived here in 2005 from Verget, has been replaced by Nadine Gublin of Domaine Jacques Prieure. A significant portion of the vast Brocard estate is now being farmed biodynamically. Piuze, like many vintners this year, favored racking his young wines off their lees earlier than usual with the intention of avoiding any heaviness. I did not by any means taste all of the enormous range of wines crafted at this address, and including several different labels. Brocard bottled from 2006 the first commercial quantities of three premier cru cuvees under the name “Quintessence,” each representing a broad range of sites that precludes “single vineyard” status. (I place that expression in quotes, since the names of many of the best-known premier crus by law already serve as collective or alternate names for certain nearby crus.) The blends are largely determined as juice, subject to some later fine-tuning.Imported by: Martine’s Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400