2006 Lucien Le Moine Vosne-Romanée Malconsorts 1er Cru

Also still in barrel when I last tasted it, the Le Moine 2006 Vosne-Romanee Les Malconsorts plays Cazetiers to the Les Suchot's Lavaux St.-Jacques, this being a Pinot of surprisingly white wine-like refreshment, brightness, lift, and even fruit character - the last thing I would in fact have expected from the site. Pear and musk melon as well as cherry and rhubarb are garnished with mint, narcissus, peat, and black tea. This is pure silk in the mouth - 'where are the tannins?' I find myself asking, agog. Imagine a Platonic - almost spiritual - Pinot, mingled with Riesling and Highland Malt Whisky. It would represent more an expression of wonder and a further attempt to capture this wine's nature than it would be a mean-spirited jibe to say that - for now, at least - it leaves its outstanding 2005 couterpart in the dust. And it's probably going to dazzle a dozen years hence, too. "There was too much fruit" on the vines in 2006, opines Mounir Saouma, "and at the same time too much tannin in the fruit." Early pickers therefore, in his opinion, risked getting "lots of primary flavors, but wines that weren't serious. So we started the aging process asking ourselves how we will make this wine less tannic and more serious. After malolactic," which is always late here, "the wines changed completely. But the bigger mistake in 2006 was to bottle early" - something which also never happens at this address - "because the wines needed some time on their lees to extract sweetness and depth, and for all of their elements to come together." The results this year here are spectacular, and need not shy from comparison with their very different 2005 predecessors. Note that with a few significant exceptions there are usually only 1-2 barriques (25-50 cases) of any given Lucien Le Moine wine. Also, despite the number of them I tasted, that did not comprise by any means the entire collection (a circumstance I have taken pains to remedy with 2007). For further details on Le Moine's proprietors and methodology - which, once again this year, included a significant amount of vinification with stems - consult my report in issue 171. Importer: Vintus, Pleasantville, NY; tel. (919) 769-3000