2006 Corton Charlemagne displays site-typical fresh lime and chalk dust – along with wood smoke and resin – on the nose. Dense and ripe yet obviously mineral, it finishes with impressive intensity and length, if a faintly woody, phenolic roughness. Nicolas Potel follows the same approach with Chardonnay as with Pinot Noir, sourcing with a strong favoritism toward old selection massale vines and organic viticulture, then handling and vinifying as gently as possible and bottling with low sulfur. His results in white (representing around 30% of his production) are not – thus far, at least – so strikingly successful as with Pinot Noir, but in 2006 he was not helped by the sheer ripeness of so much of his material, resulting in wines that are often exotic and marked by high alcohol. Potel began with the intention of barrel-fermenting all of his whites, explains cellar master Fabrice Lesne, but in the past two vintages he has moved toward tank fermentation of the larger lots and less prestigious appellations, because it was simply too difficult to simultaneously control the fermentative evolution of that many small barrels. Many of Potel’s 2006s (of which I tasted most, but not all) wore their new wood rather overtly, perhaps a part a legacy of going to barrel only post-fermentation, when the wine is less resistant. Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700