Vivid fresh black cherry underlain by charred meat set the key themes for Drouhin's 2006 Gevrey-Chambertin, which offers subtly creamy, mouth-filling generosity allied to a good sense of finishing grip, in which roasted meat, char, chalk, and cherry pit prominently figure. This manages to exhibit a wide tonal range, with especially prominent bass notes, yet remain supple, elegant, and even refreshing. Most of the fruit for this outstanding village wine came from parcels high up on the Combe de Lavaux west if town. I would feel free to follow it for 4-5 years, and as its production (nearly 3,000 cases) is huge by Burgundy standards, it ought not to be difficult to latch onto. "I was skeptical when the harvest came," says Philippe Drouhin about 2006, "because the weather had been so hectic; we had to sort the grapes; and it was not as nice as '05. But the more I tasted the '06s in the course of the year, the more I liked them." Winemaker Jerome Faure-Brac says he was hyper-cautious about avoiding the extraction of bitterness or under-ripeness, and employed vendange entier (whole clusters with stems) on a significant share of the grands (and top premiers) crus, but only in conjunction with rigorous table-sorting. Most came in at 13-13.5% potential alcohol. The wines were bottled about as early as they ever have been at Drouhin, to preserve and avoid drying out the fruit. (Just as elsewhere in this report, I have frequently indicated in my tasting note whether the source of grapes is the family's domaine or contract fruit, but have not attempted to reflect this as part of the descriptions used to identify the wines.) Importer: Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818-0770

A core of tannins, surmounted by fresh red berry fruits give this wine an attractive balance. It is not as powerful as you should expect from Gevrey, with light color and fruits, finishing with vivid acidity. ——R.V.(10/1/2009)—— 88