The Bize 2006 Savigny-les-Beaune Serpentieres smells of dark plum, blackberry, nutmeg, and offers tart but amply ripe fruit on the palate. There is however considerable astringency here, if not to the extent exhibited by, for example, the corresponding Aloxe-Corton (and which Bize and Bott there ascribed to the vineyard's clonal material). Certainly this exhibits a healthy grip, with persistent spice, tart black fruit, and underlying hints of stone. I will be worth revisiting over the next several years. Patrick Bize and Guillaume Bott picked largely in the last days of September, taking into account the need for 10-15% of the fruit to have to be segregated and discarded. The fruit for a number of wines was entirely de-stemmed – a more rigorous practice than usual here – to mitigate greenness or bitterness of flavor. The results generally – but no always (as witness a particularly astringent Grands Liards) – preserve the clarity, and mineral intrigue that one expects at this address, although they make for a somewhat somber and low-keyed lot tonally, and do not remotely measure up to the outstanding 2005s. It should be born in mind that Bize wines from the 1980s – when there a great many more marginally ripe and rot-plagued harvests than growers or consumers have had to suffer through since – had a habit of performing remarkably well in challenging vintages once given a few years in bottle. A Becky Wassserman Selection (various importers), Le Serbet, Beaune; fax 011-33-3-80-24-29-70