Typically for its site, a 2006 Volnay Champans smells richly of sauteed mushrooms as well as of meat stock and fresh red berries wreathed in wood smoke. This displays quite evident but relatively fine-grained tannins and a sense of stuffing surpassing that of the other Volnay crus in this year's Voillot collection. The alternation of brightness with suggestions of meat and mushroom reduction is fascinating rather than at all jarring. Charlot thinks this needs 4-5 years to really show its stuff, but I am inclined to believe it will remain rewarding to revisit and to employ at table anytime over the next half dozen. "Don't get me wrong," he responds, "I know it will be lucky for this wine if 10% of it manages to find its way into a good cellar," as opposed to being enjoyed young. The characteristically crisply-edged Pinot style favored by Jean-Pierre Charlot resulted in a collection of generally bright, delicate, but lean and selectively astringent 2006s. Charlot says triage was needed for culling grapes that had been subjected July sunburn, as well as for eliminating under-ripeness and rot. He professed satisfaction with by the standards of the vintage relatively low natural alcohol levels of 11.5-12.5%, and chaptalized lightly. Only the Bourgogne was deemed to require filtration, and Charlot says he prefers paying the price of a bit higher dosage of SO2 to submitting his Pinots to that trauma. Importer: Vintage 59, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 966-9218