A bright, toasty wine, with the ripe fruits of the vintage and characteristics from the wood giving extra richness to this finely structured, mineral-textured wine. ——R.V.(9/1/2011)—— 90

A very mineral–textured wine, with a stark contrast of ripe yellow fruits, sweet vanilla and an open final flavor. The wine is certainly packed with flavors, dense, the steely edge likely to soften over the next 2–3 years.——R.V.(11/1/2010)—— 92

Latour’s 2006 Puligny-Montrachet La Garenne from purchased juice involving several long-standing contracts is another fruit-forward, ripe, succulent exemplar of the vintage, but with smoky, toasty, stony, and brown spice inflections (no doubt from the site as well as the barrel) to add interest. I suspect it will be best enjoyed over the next 2-3 years. Louis-Fabrice Latour and oenologue Jean-Charles Thomas presented a 2006 collection that displayed the opulent richness that one would anticipate from such a ripe vintage, and from the Latour house style. Sometimes these wines want a bit for clarity, definition and distinctiveness – occasionally they are rather obviously marked by dairy flavors from their malolactic conversion – but the best of them have much to offer. Since I did not have opportunity to include in my issue 179 report notes on the Chablis bottlings of Simmonet-Febvre – a domaine Latour purchased in 2003 (and which also bottles some lovely sparkling wines) – I have made note of them here. Louis Latour has numerous importers throughout the U.S.