The Verget 2006 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Chenevottes – from 50 year old vines at the eastern edge of that site, not far from Criot-Batard-Montrachet – smells alluringly of red currant, orange zest, and a saline-sweet, scallop like mineral expression one would expect in Chablis. With a lovely balance of richness, substantial underlying sense of chalky minerality, and vivacious citrus and red berry, this finishes with impressive persistence and promises at least 5-7 years of interesting bottle evolution. In the Macon, at least, Jean-Marie Guffen is convinced that in 2006 “you had the choice between picking too early or picking too late. I chose the former. The sugar levels were high in either case, the acidity was low, and grapes were beginning to rot.” Guffens ran his picking crew ragged between the Macon, Cote d’Or, and Chablis, with more felicitous results in the two last-named sectors. (For notes on the 2006 Chablis at Verget, please consult my report in issue 179.) In the Cote d’Or, Guffens was more successful this year than in 2005, a vintage he thinks is in general over-rated and unlikely to stand the test of time. He was sparing with batonnage in 2006, and as always highly selective in pressing and in retention of lees (meaning he had fewer to work with). A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93