2007 Chablis Les Preuses

When opportunity arose for Pethel to acquire a contract on old vines in Les Preuses, he knew he had to make the extra effort – in this one instance – to work outside of his Cote d’Or base. Pethel said, in so far as he took lessons in the art of Chablis, it was from Raveneau, and his 2007 Chablis Preuses testifies not just to his having learned them well, but to the wisdom of his decision to work with these vines. Explosively aromatic in its bouquet of iris, buddleia, apple blossom, white peach, fresh lime and nutmeg, this memorable reflection of a great site boasts a creamy, buoyant palate on which scallop-like sweet, saline savor mingles with essence of peach, lime, and liquid floral perfume. Here is an uncanny alliance of the richness that typified 2006 with the refreshment and transparency that bespeak 2007, so that salt, crushed stone, crustacean shells, herbs, citrus zest, and fruit pits seem to shimmer through a pure pool of liquid perfume in a finish somehow at once caressing and invigorating. I suspect this will remain glorious for more than a decade. For further details concerning North Carolina-born Blair Pethel’s Domaine Dublere, please consult issue 180 as well as my coverage of the Cote d’Or elsewhere in this issue. A Becky Wasserman Selection (various importers), Le Serbet; fax 011- 333-80-24-29-70; also imported by Pas Mal Selections, New York, NY; tel. (201) 567-2028 and Schneider’s of Capitol Hill, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 543-9300