2006 Nuits St Georges Les Chaignots

The Mugneret 2006 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Chaignots exhibits rich plum and cherry with a vintage-typically tart edge, conducing to a combination of both caressing texture and tingling invigoration. The hint of wood (again – rather atypically for this address – distinctly evident) accentuates the sweetness of the fruit to a slightly preserve-like note in the finish, complimented by brown spices and with a hint of the carnal dimension one normally anticipates from this bottling. This was very late to go through malo and to begin to display harmony, but I still expect it will be best enjoyed fairly young, within the next 5-7 years. The Mugneret sisters engaged in serious triage and crop-dropping in their vineyards in early September, obviating, they claimed, the need for more than modest additional culling on sorting tables. They report having had to be vigilant during fermentations that had a natural tendency to run warm and fast, and gentle in extraction in order to preserve the naturally forward fruitiness which they said was immediately evident from the aromas when fermentation commenced, and which reminds them most of 1997, though ultimately with more structure. Like many growers, the Mugnerets were surprised at the levels of potential alcohol reached by their crop given the meteorological conditions, but they stuck by their regimen of light chaptalization in order to, they insist, beneficially extend the fermentations – an approach which at this address no one I know has ever accused of diminishing potential elegance, or clarity of fruit. "Chaptalization has an unjustly bad name," adds Marie-Christine Mugneret to reinforce their point. (Incidentally, although there have been plans to legally reconstitute this estate under a single name, each of its appellations continues for now to belong to either Domaine Georges Mugneret or Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg, a distinction I have intentionally blurred in referring to the wines of this cellar by the hybrid name "Georges Mugneret Gibourg" which its proprietors hope will eventually become official.) A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93