Bright red and black raspberry with an overt sensation of chalk dust in the nose of Le Moine's 2006 Pommard Grands Epenots migrates with enticing freshness to a palate that is nonetheless creamy and soothing as well. Subtle suggestions of meat broth add a further dimension. This seems to epitomize a tendency of 2006 to have locked in the slightly tart, bracing fresh fruit character due to a cool August, but to display ample alcoholic body thanks to September heat and an enhanced creaminess thanks paradoxically to the high levels of malic acid which were transformed to lactic. That in the best instances - such as here - the effect is not discordant but rather both winsome and well-proportioned, which could be said to constitute the magic of many of the finest 2006s. I would nevertheless expect this to be best enjoyed over the next half a dozen years.
"There was too much fruit" on the vines in 2006, opines Mounir Saouma, "and at the same time too much tannin in the fruit." Early pickers therefore, in his opinion, risked getting "lots of primary flavors, but wines that weren't serious. So we started the aging process asking ourselves how we will make this wine less tannic and more serious. After malolactic," which is always late here, "the wines changed completely. But the bigger mistake in 2006 was to bottle early" - something which also never happens at this address - "because the wines needed some time on their lees to extract sweetness and depth, and for all of their elements to come together." The results this year here are spectacular, and need not shy from comparison with their very different 2005 predecessors. Note that with a few significant exceptions there are usually only 1-2 barriques (25-50 cases) of any given Lucien Le Moine wine. Also, despite the number of them I tasted, that did not comprise by any means the entire collection (a circumstance I have taken pains to remedy with 2007). For further details on Le Moine's proprietors and methodology - which, once again this year, included a significant amount of vinification with stems - consult my report in issue 171.
Importer: Vintus, Pleasantville, NY; tel. (919) 769-3000
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