2006 Domaine Patrick Javillier Meursault Clos du Cromin Cuvée Speciale

The 2006 Meursault Clos du Cromin is deep green-gold in color and pungently spicy in aroma, suggesting a brush with botrytis in this clay-rich, relatively water-retentive site. Javillier believes in avoiding new barrels for this wine, not for the reason that prompts this reaction with his Savigny (namely retention of mineral character), but rather, he says, “because Clos du Cromin always has a tendency to be this said in English too much, very forward in its youth and only revealing its mineral side after some years in bottle.” In this instance we have elements of over-ripe pear, musk melon, litchi, and pink grapefruit; considerable amplitude and textural richness; and a zesty, pungently spicy finish that tends slightly toward drying and bitterness. Still, given the characteristic evolution of this wine, it should be worth revisiting after 2-3 years in bottle. The ever-experimental Patrick Javillier continues to pursue a unique approach, vinifying and elevating separate lots from each cru that in turn emphasize fruit, minerality, mouth feel, and structure; then assembling them late. (For a long time, Javillier distinguished as “Cuvee Speciale,” bottlings done later and without filtration. But in 2006, no such distinction was observed, and all of the wines are untiltered.) In 2003, Javillier adopted the contrarian viewpoint that the wines needed ample battonage and time on the lees to insure a structure that would compensate for low acidity, but in 2006 he felt the need to rack and bottle somewhat earlier than usual to preserve freshness and – in his words – “Burgundian character.” While he touts the virtues of this vintage for early drinking – and this is one address where 2004 and 2005 appear today to have the edge in quality, including potential longevity – samples of several of Javillier’s young 2006s that had taken on air for a day were, perhaps tellingly, more revelatory and satisfying that those freshly uncorked. A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93