2006 Volnay Santenots

Ripe black fruits in the Lafon 2006 Volnay Santenots du Milieu saturate the palate while combining refreshing and invigorating brightness with depth of carnal and mineral dimensions. This shows formidable but finely-grained structure without giving up more than a little of the vivacity and penetration that characterized the corresponding Champans. I would definitely not fear laying this away for a few years but would target 6-8 years for drinking it. Dominique Lafon picked his 2006 Pinots only in the last days of September and then – like most of his colleagues – took pains to extract and to handle the young wines very gently so as to emphasize fruit. "I don't like to carry grey rot in the picking boxes," says Lafon, "so the first selection of botrytis was done by the pickers in the vineyard, and then we finished on the sorting table." He estimates that there was at most 10-15% tainted fruit, with some parcels largely rot-free. A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet (various importers), fax 011-33-3-80-24-29-70; A Daniel Johnnes Selection imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY, tel. (516) 677 9300; Classic Wine Imports, Norwood, MA, tel. (781) 352 1100; Beaune Imports, Berkeley, CA, tel. (510) 559 1040

Dark crimson. Wild, interesting nose at last! Smooth and polished fruit. Lip-smackingly satisfying. Well constructed with lots of fruit and no excess of tannin. (JR)

Bright crimson – bluer than most other Côte de Beaune 2006s. Hints of oak and putty. Very winning broad expanse of still quite callow fruit on the front palate and some oak tannins on the finish. Definitely different in build from the 10 or so 2006 Côte de Beaunes I have tasted so far. Brighter fruit – tenser wine. Long. I'm just a little worried about the oak presence. (JR)