2006 Domaine Simon Bize et Fils Savigny-lès-Beaune Les Fournaux 1er Cru

A slightly but not unpleasantly vegetal note of spinach accrues to the Bize 2006 Savigny-les-Beaune Les Fornaux, which however boasts fine-grained tannins, attractive brown spices, and a juicy if tart impression of black fruits. The finish here is lip-smacking if relatively lean, and I expect the wine will hold up well for 4-5 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 Wine Advocate.December, 2009