2007 Joseph Drouhin, Beaune Premier Cru, Le Clos des Mouches Blanc 1x3L

Vinous 92

Bright medium yellow. Very ripe stone fruit aromas are complicated by almond flower, hazelnut and minerals ("now we are starting to get the flavors of maturity," noted Veronique Drouhin at this point in our tasting). Round, silky and ripe, with its fruit and floral flavors intensified by nicely integrated spicy acidity. This tactile, slightly salty wine boasts good texture but is also surprisingly brisk and refined; it’s less complex today than the ’08 but perhaps a bit more austere than that wine. Finishes vibrant, fresh, firm and long. Drink now or hold. Drouhin described 2007 as "a grower’s vintage due to tricky humid conditions and the threat of mildew and oidium," noting that her family started harvesting on August 31. (44 h/h; 3.37 pH; 4.05 acidity) [Stephen Tanzer, 12/02/2019]

Anticipated maturity: 2018-2030

Robert Parker 92

The 2007 Beaune Clos des Mouches is first and foremost an unusually powerful and broad wine for its vintage, as well as not coincidentally the highest in alcohol " at 13.75% " of this year’s Drouhin collection. It also displays musky and carnal elements and a seductively satiny texture in common with a number of its stable mates. Yet there is still a refreshing core of citrus present and a genuine sense of lift to the finish here at the same time that its grapefruit rind, toasted praline, and chalk dust seem to adhere indelibly. This should be fascinating wine to follow for the better part of then next decade, if not beyond. Veronique Drouhin-Boss expressed enormous " and, in my view, justifiable " satisfaction with the 2007 crop of Drouhin whites, admitting that their sense of concentration might strike some observers as paradoxical given the vintage’s relatively high yields. Regular batonnage seems to have been a successful policy here, at least as judged by flattering textures and overt richness (almost atypically so for the vintage) short-term. For an account of Drouhin’s Chablis from 2007, consult the separate report on that region in this issue. Importer: Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818 0770 [David Schildknecht, 22/12/2009]