2006 Burgundy En Primeur

Terroir–focused reds and flattering whites
– a very good all-rounder vintage.

Over the past decade, we have been spoilt for above average vintages - be it Burgundy, Bordeaux or the Rhône, and unless the text is liberally sprinkled with superlatives, we immediately feel we are under-selling the latest offering. I have, however, tried to keep any florid text to the minimum.

There is little doubt that while the rest of the world squeals eureka at every tortuous twist and turn of its Pinot production, the Burgundians are now able to accompany that old Gallic shrug with a smile that hints at smugness, knowing well that they can still do it better than most, and these days with far greater consistency.

So, is 2006 going to be as good as the scribes would have you believe? The fact that we are making an offer, tells part of the story: that we have limited our offer to a handful of favourite growers, tells the other part of the story. In terms of ripeness and homogeneity, the negociants undoubtedly had more to play with in 2005, but by the same token, the individual domaines have been able to craft better terroir- focused wines in 2006. Here I speak mainly of the reds. The whites are possibly more of a mixed bag. Chablis and Mâcon look promising, and these will trickle through into our catalogue, website and shops as and when they arrive. Domaines Leflaive and Etienne Sauzet in Puligny, have made some lovely, flattering whites in the Côtes de Beaune, which will be supreme in 5+ years - and the grander ones well beyond.

All of these wines are offered en primeur. Duty, VAT and delivery will be charged when the wines arrive during the course of this year. To reduce our carbon footprint, we shall endeavour to ship as many of these growers’ wines together, thereby making arrival dates harder to predict.