From Ponsot's site worst-hit by hail and from some of his youngest vines, a 2006 Griotte-Chambertin betrays neither of these facts in the glass. Ripe plum and black raspberry mingle with wood smoke in the nose. This is especially bright and energetic on the palate, yet glycerin helps support the rich, sappy fruit impression and cream-over any tannin for one of those 2006 finishes that manage to be at once soothing and invigorating, and that exhibits the peculiar and somehow seemingly ferrous notes that signal this site. Like most of the wines in its collection, this really blossoms and takes on nuance as it takes on air. I suspect it will be worth following for at least a decade. Ponsot says that a sort of surface-scouring whirlwind effect – "something I have never seen before … but there is no other explanation" – was apparently created in the shallow bowl that is Griotte, because the hail did more damage to leaves around the fruit zone than to the photosynthetically primary canopy foliage. Picking chez Ponsot began predictably late – on September 27 – and lasted until October 5. As might have been expected, Laurent Ponsot acted rigorously in the vineyards in the immediate aftermath of hail and eventually on the sorting table (overseen, he notes, by an especially meticulous team of three young women) to insure that any effects were minimized. (For some notes on the often unorthodox methods Ponsot employs, readers should consult my report in issue 170.) Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802