2006 Meursault Les Perrieres

From a vineyard farmed by the Drouhin family even though they do not own it, their 2006 Meursault Perrieres is dominated by lemon and grapefruit with sheer crushed stone. (With this site anyone trying to keep the notions of terroir influence and mineral vocabulary separate is sorely challenged – and not just by the name of the vineyard!) With its firmness, overt stoniness, and penetrating finish, this could be Corton Charlemagne. Notes of toasted nuts add low-tones to the tonal register, and this finishes with impressive depth and peristence. It is certainly more impressively concentrated than it is charming, but it should be worth following for at least 6-8 years, and apt to improve. The 2005 is more forceful, and at least as adamantly mineral. The Drouhins started early but picked with a level of meticulousness and at a moderate tempo that most growers did not feel they could afford this vintage. Lees contact was passive and the wines were bottled relatively early. The results are universally rich and accessible, the best wines being those that manage to retain clarity and a measure of vivacity as well as to stand up to their components of new wood. Drouhin has tight viticultural control over the numerous parcels that inform their village level wines, even though most of them are not owned. Importer: Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818 0770