2006 Puligny Montrachet Champ Canet

The Boillot 2006 Puligny-Montrachet Champs Canet represents a jump in concentration and complexity over the wines that preceded it in this collection. Lime, orange zest, lanolin, white peach and chalk dust in the nose lead to a vividly juicy, dynamic palate presence featuring an entertaining interplay of citrus, mineral, nut, and pit fruit elements. Creamy in texture yet refreshingly bright and long-finishing, this runs rings around the corresponding Refert, calling attention to the latter's static, heavier nature. This should age nicely for 5-7 years. Here is one instance where the 2005 is more mineral - Boillot acknowledges that his Champs Canet fruit in 2006 bordered on over-ripeness - but also quite milky, which he attributes to the higher quotient of malic acid in 2005. The outstanding 2004 is creamy yet bright, enticing, and complex. Given that Jean-Marc Boillot declares his love for classic dry Alsace Riesling, it is perhaps not surprising that he chose to harvest in 2006 immediately after the ban de vendange, did so in a great hurry, and then took every measure he thought efficacious - from rapid pressing to early bottling - to preserve refreshment and clarity in his finish wines. All of Boillot's premier crus (vinified in around one third new barrels) - whether from his own or purchased grapes - represent old selection massale vines, clearly one source of this collection's success. Boillot considers his 2006s -longer, finer, and more precise- as well as more sleek and dynamic than his 2005s, observations at odds with those of many growers, but ones that my tasting bore out. Importers: A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet; fax 011- 333-80-24-29-70 and Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802