2008 Chablis Les Clos

A combination of fresh lemon, fusil, crushed chalk and white truffle in the nose of the Moreau 2008 Chablis Les Clos puts me in mind a bit of 1996, with musky narcissus and peony adding seductive intrigue. But there is a silken texture and a succulent generosity of white peach to accompany the bright lemon and grapefruit that would not have been present in many 1996s. Indeed, this is munificent by the standards of its site, vintage, and compared with previous wines I have tasted from the Moreau domaine. But beyond all the animal, floral, and sweetly-fruited depth present (at under 13% alcohol, it should be noted), there is all the cut and clarity, and all the saturation of chalk, salt, and iodine that one could wish for under the rubric of “minerality.” Peach kernel and citrus rind add piquancy to an expansive and sustained finish. This will be worth following for at least ten or a dozen years; and here’s hoping it will still stand erect when the roll is called two decades from now. A small portion of the wine – which I did not taste – had been bottled only a few weeks before my visit, but the majority, including the bottle I sampled, had been bottled along with the rest of the Moreau 2008 crus, in September. Christian and Fabien Moreau are among those fans of 2008 who think of the vintage as combining the best aspects of its two predecessors. “You just watched the grapes go rolling by on the table de trie,” remarks Christian Moreau, “without having to do any work.” However one conceptualizes it, results in 2008 are superb and to my palate the top wines are considerably more exciting than any I have previously tasted from this address. Fermentations were generally allowed to proceed spontaneously rather than being yeasted – and in consequence both alcoholic and malo-lactic fermentations of several lots lasted until April – which might account for some of the added complexity and refinement as well as effective digestion of their oak component that characterizes these superb wines. (The Moreaus’ effusive 2009s – from a vintage they compare with 2000 – finished fermenting a bit earlier, and were extremely promising when tasted this April, demonstrating that this domaine is on a roll.) Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700