2006 Chevalier Montrachet La Cabotte

Reflecting a terrace adjacent to Le Montrachet (and for which Bouchard has in fact appealed the classification), the 2006 Chevalier-Montrachet La Cabotte sacrifices some of the brightness and elegance of the “regular” bottling for the sake of even more enveloping richness, amplitude, and sheer density. A bitter-sweet amalgam of over-ripe peach, plum, litchi, fruit pits, candied citrus, and toasted nuts is noticeably marked by the vanilla of new wood, and while the finish is formidable, it lacks the refinement, elegance, or mineral intrigue of its immediate sibling. Time will probably continue to take these two Chevalier Montrachet bottlings ever-further apart, with the Cabotte displaying the kinship with its yet more famous neighbor. Certainly a comparison any time over at least the next dozen years would prove fascinating for those few wine lovers who can afford it. In keeping with what he says are his usual intuitions, Philippe Prost picked early – bringing in Chardonnay ahead of Pinot Noir for the first time at Bouchard since 1989 – so as to retain freshness as well as what he termed “the sense of minerality in a vintage of very ripe fruit. But in 1989,” he hastens to add, “yields were perhaps overly generous, whereas in 2006 they are quite reasonable.” The results are consistently impressive. New barrels are generally “seasoned” here through use in wines of lesser appellation (other portions of which are frequently raised in tank), as Prost prefers to employ second year barrels for most of his crus. Injections of inert gas at bottling are among the techniques being used to protect the young wines here from oxidation. Importer: Henriot, Inc, New York, NY