2006 Mazis Chambertin

The two barrels' worth of Potel 2006 Mazis-Chambertin are strikingly resinous, pitch-, and incense-like on the nose, so that one has to smell carefully to find the black fruits and meat beneath. A more obviously carnal character emerges on the palate, along with suggestions of brown spices and invigorating berry-tartness, and of course further suggestions of tree sap. This has powerful presence and weight, although a wave of tannins mounts all the way through to the finish, dimming the wine's virtuous fruit and spice. The wine was treated to sophisticated – and in theory gentle – cross-filtration to polish it, but there is some sense of drying tannin in the finish. Since, I tasted this right after bottling, I am hoping that might partly account for its failure to bring sap or juice to bear when it is most wanted. I'm skeptical about long-term aging – pending reinvestigation – for that same reason. Nicolas Potel consistently favors promoting ripeness at low potential alcohol and consistently eschews chaptalization. He is also a fan of freshness and clarity in Pinot, while maintaining notably low levels of sulfur. A vintage where a significant share of fruit came in near or above 14% potential alcohol and was shadowed by botrytis was thus a challenge, which seems to have been selectively well met. (For more on the style and methods associated with Maison Nicolas Potel – whose wines are sourced from a mixture of contract fruit and purchased juice – consult my report in issue 171.) Despite the huge number of 2006s I tasted here, incidentally, they did not represent the entire Potel vintage collection. In May, 2009, Potel left the negociant firm that bears his name (and which belongs to the Cottin brothers, owners of Laboure-Roi) to devote himself entirely to his own domaine and negociant operation, Maison Roche de Bellene, which crushed its first grapes with the 2007 vintage (in part from Potel holdings that were showcased in Maison Potel bottlings of vintages 2005 and 2006). Long-time cellarmaster Fabrice Lesne has now assumed direction of Maison Potel. By the way, suggested retail prices for the 2006s here took a sharp downturn vis-a-vis those for the 2005s, an occurrence worth noting for its rarity. (That said, of course the effective, eventual retail prices for all 2006s have turned on market factors that transcended cellar door prices, let alone the parameters envisioned by national importers). Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700