2006 Domaine Boyer-Martenot Puligny-Montrachet Les Caillerets 1er Cru

A 2006 Puligny-Montrachet Caillerets was the exception to vintage rules chez Boyer, and had not even reached dryness – much less undergone malolactic transformation – at the time that its fellow wines were being bottled. When I tasted it from barrel, some gas was still present. Candied citrus rind, licorice, coconut, vanilla, and peach preserves in the nose usher in an imposingly creamy palate, with a hint of milkiness and detached wood. Refreshing acidity keeps the undeniable richness here from becoming tiring and takes the edge off of the wine’s faint warmth. Whether some sense of mineral dimension or more recognizable vineyard personality will emerge must wait to be tasted at a later date. But I do not pick this to be an especially long keeper. Vincent Boyer began picking several days after the official starting date, in the belief that his grapes required additional ripening. After yeasting, the musts took off and fermented quickly, which might account for a certain sameness of character I noticed from one site to another. All but one of the 2006s was bottled already by August, 2007. Boyer was concerned to preserve freshness and the early 2007 harvest forced him to make a quick decision. The wines were lightly filtered but not fined. (Several unfiltered bottlings from selected barrels were as usual essayed this year exclusively for North Berkeley Imports, which I did not taste.) A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93