Peach, apple pit, toasted nuts, and an alkaline mineral note on the 2006 Puligny-Montrachet set the stage for a palate that exhibits considerable toasty oak character as well. (One quarter of the barrels in Drouhin’s village wines are new.) This evinces some brightness, if also some warmth in the finish, but is not especially long on personality, and likely to be best enjoyed young. The Drouhins started early but picked with a level of meticulousness and at a moderate tempo that most growers did not feel they could afford this vintage. Lees contact was passive and the wines were bottled relatively early. The results are universally rich and accessible, the best wines being those that manage to retain clarity and a measure of vivacity as well as to stand up to their components of new wood. Drouhin has tight viticultural control over the numerous parcels that inform their village level wines, even though most of them are not owned.Importer: Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818 0770

Soft and rounded, given extra richness by the vanilla from wood, this is a ripe wine with yellow fruit and pink grapefruit flavors. As the wine develops it shows an edge of taut acidity, giving a frisson of freshness on the finish. Imported by Dreyfus, Ashby & Co.——R.V.(10/1/2009)—— 88