2006 Camille Giroud Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

The Camille Giroud 2006 Corton Charlemagne will represent a blend of two barrels each from opposite ends and exposures of this famously horseshoe-shaped Grand Cru: Rognet, and Le Charlemagne. Only the former lot was really scrutable when I tasted, but it put on an impressive show. Peach, pineapple, grapefruit, and lime inform the nose and a rich, succulent, silken palate. Opulent and expansive – the only sign of its 14% alcohol being glycerin-richness – this nonetheless displays fascinatingly saline, savory, and stony mineral suggestions and finishes with clarity and refreshment. The finished wine should be superb and capable of more than a decade’s positive evolution. The Corton Charlemagne from David Croix’s own Domaine des Croix, incidentally, is yet more refined, intricate, and evocative of this great cru. Readers should consult issues 160 and 170 for details on this house owned by Ann Colgin and a group of Americans. They and their winemaker David Croix are as he puts it “trying to develop our program with whites, but it’s really hard to find good material.” The 2006 whites here prove that even with a relatively late harvest, one did not have to sacrifice clarity or minerality, nor be burdened with high alcohol. Clearly, this team is exercising unusual vigilance with their handful of growers. Croix took these wines from barrel early – after passive contact on the lees and careful preservation of CO2 – and then held them in tank for several months (the condition in which I tasted all but one them) before bottling unfined and unfiltered. The aim of extended time in tank was to further preserve freshness, and to insure that the wines and their levels of sulfur would remain stable. Various Importers. A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet; fax 011- 333-80-24-29-70