Brought this to dinner Friday night at Laguna Beach. Trying to introduce my girlfriend to Burgundy, so I thought this may be an interesting choice. Popped and poured.
The 2006 Clos de Lambrays displays a very floral nose of fresh raspberries and strawberries, wrapped charmingly with cinnamon, spices, and a touch of toasted oak. Classic Lambrays nose, while not as fragrant as the 2008 I had about a year ago, still beautifully fragrant. On the palate, I thought the wine showed its purity along with good acidity and intensity – again, lots of lush berries and spices. It’s not heavy-weight for sure, but is quite elegantly powerful. I probably should have decanted the wine, but didn’t get a chance to, though it did improve over 3 hours and the next night. Still a young wine and can definitely benefit with more time in the cellar. The Lambrays always delivers for me, and the 2006 is no different. I’m actually beginning to like the 2006 vintage for red burgs quite a bit.
Interesting note. My sense of the archetypal Lambrays nose is rather different, featuring quite dark fruit tones, smoked duck / grilled game and pungent, spicy earth—but also quite fragrant like the wine you’ve described.
It sounds like the 2006 is a bit more open for inspection than the 2005 I tasted from 375 last year!
She did. . . she typically likes Cali cabs and syrah blends. . . so it was a bit surprising that she enjoyed the Lambrays. Maybe it’s a bad thing for my wallet if she ends up liking burgs down the road. . .
William, I would agree with “spicy earth”, though typically for me, “smoked duck/grilled game” and meaty notes show up when describing something like a Bonnes Mares. Lambrays has always been a wine of purity and finesse for me. I’ve heard great things about the 2005! Probably should hold onto those for another decade.
