The Latour-Giraud 2006 Puligny-Montrachet Champ Canet allies very esterous ripe and distilled orchard fruits with briny mineral-bath character, and faintly bitter iodine-like, cyanic notes that emerge as a vintage theme at this address. Time needs to knit this more firmly and perhaps reveal nuance. It is unlikely that a slight hint of alcoholic warmth will dissipate (small wonder Latour was a pains to harvest this before the ban de vendange!), but sheer density of raw materials and an ample leavening of acidity should help make this worth following for 5-7 years. Jean-Pierre Latour was one of those growers who got a jump on the 2006 ban de vendange in an effort to preserve freshness and clarity of fruit (although on that score, he professes to prefer his 2005s). The 2006 collection was slow to ferment and to undergo malo-lactic transformation; and from tank immediately before bottling, many wines struck me as somewhat disjointed and/or awkwardly marked by milk and new wood. Various importers, including Bayfield Importing, Long Island, NY (718)482 0200; Classic Wine Imports, Norwood, MA, tel. (781) 352 1100; and Stacole Fine Wines, Boca Raton, FL; tel. (561) 998 0029

The Latour-Giraud 2006 Puligny-Montrachet Champ Canet allies very esterous ripe and distilled orchard fruits with briny mineral-bath character, and faintly bitter iodine-like, cyanic notes that emerge as a vintage theme at this address. Time needs to knit this more firmly and perhaps reveal nuance. It is unlikely that a slight hint of alcoholic warmth will dissipate (small wonder Latour was a pains to harvest this before the ban de vendange!), but sheer density of raw materials and an ample leavening of acidity should help make this worth following for 5-7 years. Jean-Pierre Latour was one of those growers who got a jump on the 2006 ban de vendange in an effort to preserve freshness and clarity of fruit (although on that score, he professes to prefer his 2005s). The 2006 collection was slow to ferment and to undergo malo-lactic transformation; and from tank immediately before bottling, many wines struck me as somewhat disjointed and/or awkwardly marked by milk and new wood.Various importers, including Bayfield Importing, Long Island, NY (718)482 0200; Classic Wine Imports, Norwood, MA, tel. (781) 352 1100; and Stacole Fine Wines, Boca Raton, FL; tel. (561) 998 0029