2006 Vosne Romanee Les Gaudichots

The Forey 2006 Vosne-Romanee Les Gaudichots favors the black currant, peat, and soy that I found also in this year's Petits Monts, here with an extra measure of concentration, slightly less fresh berry character, but a compensatory sense of depth and roasted richness. Bitter fruit pit notes mingle with smoky, saline pungency and mineral savor in a long finish, however the tannins significantly intrude, in part if seems due to the reinforcement of fruit astringency by flavors of oak, a phenomenon that will hopefully dissipate with a few years of bottle age (and this certainly looks set to justify 6-8 years' aging). Forey acknowledges that this bottling has digested its wood less well or thoroughly than others, a circumstance he says he traced to one of the barrels used – which in the case of this Gaudichots means half of the wine's volume! Forey's acquisition several years ago of the portion of this site that was formerly farmed by Thierry Vigot will be reflected in enhanced 2007 production. Regis Forey insists that only negligible triage was necessary on his 2006 crop, and in addition to the advantages of lees contact conferred by protracted and relatively late malolactic transformation, he also did some active stirring to fatten the young wines. Finished alcohol levels in this collection vary between what appear on the basis of taste to be an ideal 12.5%-13.5%, and with the exception of an uncooperative portion of his village Vosne-Romanee, none of these wines was filtered. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990