A youthfully dense, medium-plus intense ruby core signifies the switch to red. The nose shows medium intense and very ripe plummy blacks fruits; on the very edge of jammy for my tastes.
Not surprisingly, this wine turns out to be firmly medium-plus bodied on the attack. Its medium acidity just about keeps things fresh on the mid-palate, where ripe-but-grippy beyond medium tannins drive medium-plus intense flavours of ripe black&blue berries, laced with an inky edge not unlike that found in South-Western French Tannat. Continuing in that vein, this is a gob full of wine, which would have me guessing monolithic Rhône Syrah rather than Pinot Noir. The finish just about makes it to the 20 second mark, at which point the tannins take over, but it has to be noted that they do not grate.
This is not a bad wine, but good Bourgogne it’s certainly not. So, bear in mind that the 85 points I can spare reflect a deduction for lack of typicity ...... TN Mike de Lange.

Hello, old friend… With a medium intense translucent ruby core, we’re more into familiar territory. While beyond medium intense on the nose, a slight spritzy fuzziness takes a few minutes to dissipate and then its black fruits resemble blackberries, but I also smell an unprecedented note of bacon/pancetta.
The vintage shines through in its medium-plus body, while on the mid-palate medium acidity lends sufficient freshness to this consistently high-quality village. Medium-minus fine tannins are plushy enough to shore up medium-plus intense flavours of blueberry, which are both generous and mouth-filling. The finish does a convincing 20-25 seconds and while this wine surely is a shockingly ripe, open and delicious drink at the moment, it is definitely not the most typical of 10+ vintages I’ve tasted so far. I’ll give 88 points for this showing and perhaps medium-term cellaring will see this wine transform and warrant a slightly higher score ............. TN Mike de Lange.

This bottle was given to us for examination by Rien van den Berg and had 5 hours to slowly oxygenate. A tip o’ the old hat to you, sir!
The medium intense ruby core is translucent yet surprisingly dense, while there is only slight clearing visible at the rim. While clearly evolved, the medium-plus intense nose offers up precise and refined notes of damsons, decaying wood, mushrooms and freshly tilled earth. Further exposure to oxygen in the glass yields stemmy herbal notes like iodine and fresh thyme.
Its sheltered terroir gave this prime 1er Cru a firmly medium body in 1999 and the attack surprises with impressive sève, before showing its sound structure. Near pronounced acidity and grippy medium tannins support firmly medium-plus intense flavours of plummy damsons laced with stemmy herbal complexity, all in beautifully balanced fashion. Ripe yet nervously styled, fruity yet complex and showing both precision and tension; this wine has it all. The finish stretches out over at least 30-35 seconds in all its finesse, so my 92 points are worthy of a Grand Cru indeed and I suspect about 5 years of extended aging may unlock another ............. TN Mike de Lange.

A bit further downslope and to the north, from the Griotte-Chambertin adjacent section of Aux Charmes. Medium intense, opaque-ish ruby at the core with a clearing rim. This bottle was opened, checked for faults and left to stand in a cool place for about two hours.
The nose is far less evolved than the previous wine and shows medium intense notes of black fruits, a touch of leathery game and a smoky edge. Slightly beyond medium-bodied, feisty near-pronounced acidity pulls out the ripe-but-grippy medium tannins somewhat, but said structure is decently buffered by medium intense griotte cherries, although other than a slight earthiness further complexity is absent. Its mid-palate balance is no more than fair at present and it’s clear to me that this wine still has some structure to resolve. The fact that the finish ups the intensity a notch and sneakily makes it to the half minute post, reinforces confidence in its future promise, because at present it is not a bad wine but certainly no Grand Cru experience. Judgement reserved ................ TN Mike de Lange

Medium intense, opaque-ish ruby core with very little clearing at the edge. The nose –while only medium intense at present– is showing refined and pointed notes of high-toned red flowers, red cherry, with an edge of freshly shoveled earth and forest floor.
Again we have a somewhat beyond medium body, but pronounced acid lends oodles of lift for this particular wine, while the grippy medium tannins are of good quality but stand out a bit due to it still being in a closed phase. Nonetheless, youthful red fruits like cranberry and raspberry manage to provide a semblance of balance, aided by Grand Cru-level refined texture. On the plus-side, the typically ferrous expression of Gevrey minerals shine through nicely. The understated finish does not yield any new insights –but still passes the 25-second mark convincingly– so I have to yet again to conclude, that this wine needs time and a lot of it at that. I’ll give 90 points for this bottle and would bury remaining bottles for a minimum of 6 years to unlock their considerable potential ............ TN Mike de Lang.

A typically medium intense, translucent but sombre ruby core here. Initially rather reduced, this subsides to a medium intense smoked game note with seemingly dried black fruits peeking through. This wine is definitely medium-plus bodied, while medium intense perfumed cherry flavours can just about stand their ground against pronounced acidity and grippy –though quite polished– medium tannins. Sucking in air through the wine unlocks more stemmy grippiness in the volatile register, like menthol and eucalyptus. In short, this obviously very young Grand Cru is still too dominated by its structure to give a sound assessment. I do however, like its good texture but would advise to wait for a minimum of 8 years before opening any bottles you might have. Again, judgment reserved ......... TN Mike de Lange.

This wine also shows a medium intense translucent ruby core, but is much brighter than the Dujac. The nose is medium intense, but to my disappointment I immediately spot the dirty drain-resembling affliction of GMT, which plagued several villages in 2006. Other than that, candied red fruit, some wood smoke and almost stemmy herbal notes are not without charm, but exposure to air makes the initially faint funkiness in the background grow more pungent.
Only medium-bodied, the beyond medium-plus intense acidity stands out at present, while medium-minus tannins clamp down; albeit without spoiling the smooth texture. On the mid-palate, slightly beyond medium intense hi-toned flavours of red cherry and cranberry –accompanied by red floral inner mouth perfume– still maintain a semblance of balance, which unfortunately deteriorates quickly on the finish. The aforementioned funk returns and makes the structure take over proceedings after 15-20 seconds, which is really too short for a wine of this stature. Yet another “Hors Categorie” it is then, but I would advise extreme caution in purchasing wines from Volnay, Chambolle-Musigny or Gevrey-Chambertin from 2006 .................... TN Mike de Lange.

Medium-plus intense opaque ruby, without much clearing at the edge. The nose offers up medium intense notes of sweet black cherry, sweet vanillin oak and fruit cake.
A medium-plus body reveals itself on the attack, after which the oak-enhanced medium tannins seem more sticky than grippy. However, pronounced fiery acidity kicks in a split second later and drives medium-plus intense cranberry-like red fruits, which prove to be a very adequate foil for the sound structural spine this wine possesses. While some spicy oak notes add to its complexity, this wine seems somewhat monolithic at present. Its extract levels are impressive enough however, for more terroir-derived flavours to come through the din in the future. Finally, the finish is quite decent at 25-30 seconds of good balance and so I have to conclude, that this 1er Cru from the Combe de Lavaux pairs impressive acidity for the vintage to more than adequate sève and it deserves 90 points. It will most likely benefit from mid-term aging and I wouldn't be too surprised if it improves for much longer .............................. TN Mike de Lange.