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By: Ikedi Ani-okoye

Chardonnay

The new vintage 2006 Burgundy tastings happened recently and can, for a Burgundy lover be one of the best of times or the worst of times, as you get an insight into where the vintage is going.

My tirst taste of the new vintage was Chablis. This is the area in the most northern part of Burgundy, where the Chardornay is made into cool, mineralic wines which bear little or no resemblance to the Whites created from the same grape further south in the heart of the region.

The 06 Chablis varied from ripe and round with honeydew. melons and wild flowers to dry and steely with wet stones and a chalky minerality. Dauvisat-Caucus wines were a perfect expression of intensity and elegance and ones to look forward to in the coming years.

As I moved south, into the heart of Burgundy, the whites gave up so many different qualities; some were over-ripe and almost tropical. Pineapple, banana and cinnamon entered my tasting notes and I felt as though I were looking at New World whites, not wines from the home of Chardonnay. But for the most part they were seductive and approachable, a good vintage for the restaurant trade as they are at the moment quite forward. Stars for me were Jean-Noel Gagnard, Jean-Marc Boillot and Bachelet Monnot.

The reds were another story. lt is always hard to taste wines that are in tank at the moment or have not been racked. Often, you have to look past the initial feeling to predict where the wine Will go. Pinot Noir is notoriously tricky for winemakers and in difficult vintages can be as hard to deal with as a child in its terrible twos.

A few of those l tasted were big and over-extracted; at one point, after smelling eucalyptus point, after smelling eucalyptus on one, l declared that global warming had turned Pinot Noir into Aussie Shiraz. Then came wines like Denis Mortet's Gevrey Chambertin and here was the Burgundy that melts my heart: structured yet elegant, filled with violets and soft ripe fruits, and perfectly balanced.

2005 Burgundy was always going to be a hard act to follow, but I do not think 06 will disappoint. 2006 Burgundy is like sitting on a rollercoaster. One moment you are on a real high, moment you are on a real high, the next you are on a low and you never know what will come round the next bend.