Champy Chambertin-Clos de Beze Grand Cru - 2006 (750ml)

Producer note: As has been detailed in these pages before, winemaker Dimitri Bazas and director Pierre Meurgey are making real progress in their efforts to change the style of the reds toward less structured and more accessible wines without losing the essential spirit of Maison Champy as having crafted several centuries worth of vins de garde (age worthy wines). Champy has long been famous for wines that improve for years and then last for decades, indeed I have had wines deep out of the 19th C that are still in fine shape. However, as Meurgey told me two years ago, "our clients want more accessibility earlier. So after much debate, we've decided to modify somewhat our approach to build wines that should mature, at the top levels, over a 10 to 20 year horizon rather than 50. To that end we are no longer doing a post-fermentation heating of the must and are lowering the percentage of new wood. Still, we are not throwing the baby out with the bath water as it were because we're continuing with some wines to retain 15 to 20% of the stems [and in some cases, 50%], which is hardly a commercial approach in the region today. We're also going to continue with a longer than average élevage period of 16 to 18 months. And I want to emphasize that these changes are essentially stylistic, not qualitative." Like most négociants buying a wide range of grapes and/or wines in 2006, the quality here was mixed with some excellent wines and some that were less inspiring. If you haven't tried the Champy wines since the 2005 vintage, I would suggest taking another look. You will still find them to be quite serious but perhaps not quite so formidably young as in the past. (Diva Beaune, Beaune, France - diva@planetb.fr; Jeroboam Wines, New York, NY; Agent - Pol Roger and Haynes, Hanson & Clark, UK). Tasting note: The nose here is fascinating as it's a mix of elegant spicy cranberry, herb and forest floor aromas where the latter element is picked up by the supple, forward and almost easy middle weight flavors that lack the same depth of material as the best wines in the range. To be sure, this is a solid wine but it just lacks the same overall complexity and power that one expects from a top flight Bèze.
Burghound - 90 points