2005 vs 2006

I am a fan of many French wines and related to vintage I have been buying lots of affordable '05 reds, particularly Bourgogne and Beaujolais. Spent some time at my wine store a couple of days and talked the the "main man" along with several distributors that were there hawking wines. Everyone claimed that '06 was slightly softer but in general better than '05 in the Southern areas of France. I am not inclined to pay too much attention to a distibutor salesman but the "main guy" is known for honesty and will tell me if he does not like a wine. Haven't really tried any yet. What do people think about the '06 vintage. Both the '05 and '06 Grand Veneur CdR was available and they thought the '06 was better. Comments???
Walt

What do people think about the '06 vintage. Both the '05 and '06 Grand Veneur CdR was available and they thought the '06 was better. Comments???

Parker has gone on record as saying that he thinks more of '06 in the S. Rhone than '05, which he praised highly. Claude Kolm has said that '06 in Burgundy is much more variable than '05, with certain producers doing as well or better than in '05, however. My own experience is that '06 in Beaujolais has given us some very fruity, forward wines that, while lacking the structure of the '05s, provide nice near-term drinking.

Mark Lipton

My own experience is that '06 in Beaujolais has given us some very fruity, forward wines that, while lacking the structure of the '05s, provide nice near-term drinking.

Is J-M Burgaud's Morgons then an exception to this rule? We haven't seen (m)any other serious Beaujolais here, but I have recently tried the '06 Charme, Côte du Py, CdP Réserve and CdP James and were tight and tannic and so backward that even the Charme gave no pleasure until after a day open. As far as Beaujolais goes, I would have thought the '05s and '07s of this producer were more forward and fruity.

-O

I get the Burgundy Report from Bill Nansen and his thoughts are in line with Claude Kolm's about the variability of the 2006 Burgundies. There were some weather-related problems with the vintage so time of picking, etc. becomes important to the resulting wine.

My own experience is that '06 in Beaujolais has given us some very fruity, forward wines that, while lacking the structure of the '05s, provide nice near-term drinking.

Is J-M Burgaud's Morgons then an exception to this rule? We haven't seen (m)any other serious Beaujolais here, but I have recently tried the '06 Charme, Côte du Py, CdP Réserve and CdP James and were tight and tannic and so backward that even the Charme gave no pleasure until after a day open. As far as Beaujolais goes, I would have thought the '05s and '07s of this producer were more forward and fruity.

Interesting, Otto. I can only speak to my own experience, but the tannins of '05 were far more prominent IMO than they were in '06. I haven't had any '07s to compare yet. Of course, Morgon is among the darkest, most backward of the Crus, so no great surprise that they would be tight. OTOH, I've had Brun's VV, Chermette's Traditionelle, Tete's Julienas and Coudert's normale in '06 and all were pretty much ready to go.

Mark Lipton

The 2006 Pascal Granger Juliennas was pretty dark and tight and earthy-definitely not a light raspberry fruit Beaujo!

(Heck...I even love tight and closed Beaujo!)