The Extremely Pretty Terroir-Focused 2006's of Rapet

11/10/2008 -

(Vincent Rapet pouring Jean-Marie de Champs some delicious 1988 Corton)

On my recent visit to Burgundy the highlight of the tastings was the wine of Roland Rapet. Roland Rapet is the name of the estate but Vincent is the winemaker and proprietor. The 2005's were stupendous, and in many cases his 2006's are not as showy, but they express more terroir while being extremely attractive and very pretty wines to drink in the short to medium term. Drinkability is something that is underrated these days. Sounds ridiculous I know but so many people buy wines to put away and drink lesser wines on a regular basis. These wines can be put away but are just so slurpable today.

Vincent Rapet is a very detail-oriented winemaker and he says the key to 2006 was to focus on the sorting table. There was lots of underripe and botryized affected fruit which had to be tossed. The vinification was soft as was the elevage and it's reflected in the wines . . .but just because they are soft does not mean they lack fruit or stuffing which they do not. These wines, as a result of all this hard work have a wonderful freshness and delicacy of fruit. Great for the burg-lover to drink while 99's, 02's and ‘05's are sleeping. The aromas are pure and focused and beautifully express the different terroir of each site. These are elegant complex wines that are lovely to drink young and are a stunning value at these prices.