From purchased juice, the Drouhin 2006 Batard-Montrachet smells decadently rich with musk, over-ripe peach, lime candy, talcum, and smoky, spicy new wood. With impressive fat and palate persistence, it offers another instance of appealingly forward virtues if without noticeable indications of long aging potential, nor any particular grand cru finesse or mystery. The Drouhins started early but picked with a level of meticulousness and at a moderate tempo that most growers did not feel they could afford this vintage. Lees contact was passive and the wines were bottled relatively early. The results are universally rich and accessible, the best wines being those that manage to retain clarity and a measure of vivacity as well as to stand up to their components of new wood. Drouhin has tight viticultural control over the numerous parcels that inform their village level wines, even though most of them are not owned.

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