Alex Gambal's report on 2006 wines from Burgundy

I received his e-mail today in which he labels both 2006 and 2007 difficult vintages in Burgundy. 2006 required careful triage in the vines and the cuveries (vats?) He said the best producers will have yields down 20-40%. The 2006 wines show evidence of being approachable sooner than the 2005's. The reds are rich, full of red fruits and soft tannins. "The red vinifications were shorter in 2006 than in 2005. We did this in order to extract more fruit and less of the tannins that were not as ripe as in 2005. The élevages and the malolactic fermentations were textbook and were mostly over in the spring."
"In summary this is a red vintage for those who like their Burgundies young as well as with some age."
As regarding the white Burgundies, the authorized date for starting harvest was later than he would have wished. Consequently, while the grapes had about the same acidity as the 2005 harvest, they were higher in sugar. "...The 06s have a rich mouth feel, have multiple layers of white fruit (as 2000) with acidities that support and allow their differences to be quite evident." He goes on to give brief notes on each 2006 bottling, with percentage of new oak and number of cases produced (as few as 75 cases or as high as 700 cases.)

Thanks for passing the information on, JC.

Did Alex Gambal mention the nature of the difficulties with the 2006 harvest? Was it rot?

-Paul W.

He didn't mention rot but said the tannins were not as ripe as in 2005 (maybe more rain or more cool days?) In discussing the white Burgundies he said an earlier picking date would have avoided a violent storm followed by sunshine, leading to very high sugar by Burgundian standards. The alcohol levels will be 13 or 14% or in some cases even 15% but they do not seem "hot" or out-of-balance because of the natural great acidities.

2006 is a great vintage for the Burgundy bookends of Chablis and Macon. The 2006 barrel samples I tried in Burgundy last Feb. (including some at Gambal) offered a lot of promise even in the Cote de Nuits and Cote de Beaune reds. One of the biggest problems was that the weather turned rainy in August (I had a wet vacation in Switzerland and Austria at the time) and then September hit and the heat turned up fast. Everyone had to scramble at harvest before the sugar got out of hand. As expected, the experienced producers all along the Cote made some very good wines in 2006 (Jesus, all of the Puligny-Montrachet at Louis Carillon was mind-blowing!) But like most vintages in Burgundy; think producer 1st.

Thanks, Bill. Wet August and then sudden September heat is a recipe for rot, as well as sudden unexpected ripeness.

So it's a typical tricky Burgundy vintage where the skilled and lucky made great wines, and the rest fared not so well.

As always, one must look foremost to the producer's name on the label.

-Paul W.