2006 Gevrey Chambertin Lavaux St Jacques

I did not have an opportunity to re-taste Rousseau's 2006 Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux St.-Jacques from bottle, nor immediately prior to bottling. Early in its evolution, it was characterized by tart, refreshing red fruits and a rather aggressive herbal and peppery pungency. Lean, long, and penetrating, the quality of its tannins did not seem to be in question, but the question was to what extent it would fill-out and or settle down. Other Rousseau 2006 gained significantly in the late innings of their elevage. Since Eric Rousseau – as mentioned in my issue 170 run-down of his methodology – does not on principle utilize a sorting table, I imagined the aftermath of hail in 2006 presenting a special challenge to his pickers and to bottled quality, but it was one he and his team clearly surmounted. Clos de Beze, Griotte-, and Chapelle-Chambertin were the worst-effected, relates Rousseau, along with numerous of his village-level parcels. Potential alcohol levels are closer to 2003's record highs than they are to those of 2005, but the finished 2006s – while hardly as successful as their immediate predecessors – do not suffer any spirituous roughness or heat, and are thus free to effectively make their relatively light, bright, and in the best instances distinctive statements. Rousseau reports – and my limited opportunities for comparison confirm – that the initially rather austere and even brittle, disjointed personalities of these wines were ameliorated in the course of elevage, and the best of them have blossomed beautifully. (I was unable to taste several top wines here after bottling, so my notes on those are based on a representative sampling and blending from cask shortly before bottling.) Importer: Frederic Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700