There are only 75 cases of Jadot’s 2006 Puligny-Montrachet Combettes, but given its importer Kobrand’s ownership share in the winery, a significant number of these will indeed come to the U.S. Honeysuckle, pear, musk, and quince aromas introduce a clear, juicy, pure palate with ginger and nutmeg accenting the ripe orchard fruits and a pink grapefruit sorbet-like combination of exotic inner-mouth aromas, subtle creaminess, and refreshment. Finishing with neither superficial sweetness nor oakiness despite 2 of 3 barrels being new, this should perform well for at least a half dozen years. The combination of richness, clarity, energy, and minerality exhibited by the 2005 is also outstanding. A half bottle of the 1982 tasted recently at the winery was ravishingly mineral a pure in fruit. But despite the high quality of recent collections here, Jadot has not escaped significant instances of premature oxidation, leading one to wonder which if any of their 2006s will still taste fresh from a half bottle a quarter century from now.
The impressive collection of Jadot 2006s were slow both in their alcoholic fermentation and their malo-lactic evolution, which director Jacques Lardiere considered all to the good when it came to imposing structure and building complexity in wines of such ripeness and relatively high alcohol. In any case, Jadot whites seldom complete their malo-lactic transformation, and if one seeks a vintage to demonstrate the virtues of that approach, surely 2006 is the poster child. Furthermore, anyone who thinks that there are no values left in white Burgundy today has clearly not given Jadot’s wide range the attention it deserves. (These wines were assembled from barrel for my tasting and/or tasted from a range of individual barrels. I have generally made note of those wines not owned by Jadot and its associates by at least indicating whether grapes or juice were purchased.)
Importer: Kobrand, Inc., New York, NY; tel.(212) 490 9300