2006 Charmes Chambertin

Grown in fact in the Mazoyeres, the Ligniers' 3 barrels worth of 2006 Charmes-Chambertin leads with pure, bright fresh and distilled essence of cherry. Chartreuse-like suggestions of herbal and floral distillates add to the aromatic allure. A bittersweet concentration of cherry, herbs, and cherry pits, along with suggestions of meat stock fill-out a finely-tannic palate, and this finishes with impressive length and transparency of pure fruit to carnal and chalky mineral nuances. I suspect that this refined and buoyant 2006 will be worth following for at least a dozen years. Hubert Lignier's estate – long one of Burgundy's most prestigious addresses, and now re-named to reflect the partnership with his son Laurent – remains caught up in a sad drama of familial acrimony. Kellen Lignier – the American widow of Hubert's tragically youthfully deceased son and heir-apparent Romain – bottles one share of this estate under "Domaine Lucie et Auguste Lignier," the names of her children by Romain. (I have not yet tasted any of those wines.) Hubert and Laurent receive a share of the wine vinified by Kellen Lignier's team and continue to themselves farm and vinify the fruit from another portion of the estate, including the acreage that informs Hubert Lignier's long iconic Morey 1er cru Vieilles Vignes and Clos de la Roche. Hubert and Laurent also began with the 2005 vintage purchasing and raising negociant wines, of which I have tasted only a few not yet especially distinguished examples. I was last able to taste their 2006 estate wines just prior to bottling, and the line-up of samples did not unfortunately include their Gevrey Combettes. These 2006s remind Hubert Lignier of his 2001s, and a direct comparison of the two top wines also demonstrates how impressively those 2001s have evolved. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990