2007 Maison Joseph Drouhin Marquis de Laguiche Montrachet Grand Cru

The 2007 Montrachet Marquies de Laguiche exudes decadent lily and musk oil aromas; practically detonates on the palate with ripe peach and a puff of brown spices and smoke; offers a seductively creamy and expansive amalgam of nut oils, honey, and pasted orchard fruits; and reverberates in a finish with tactile chalk dust, fruit skin, brown spice and citrus zest impingement. Here is a marvelous example of concentration allied to elegance and – in keeping with its vintage in general and especially chez Drouhin – an unusually forward and youthfully seductive exemplar of its appellation, but one I certainly anticipate will gain in complexity in coming years and to be worth following for a dozen or more. 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

Very ripe aromas of apricot and smoky oak. Big, rich and sweet, with sexy hints of smoke, nutmeg and brown sugar. Tactile and chewy but without any excess weight. This big boy seems accessible already but offers enticing high notes for such a ripe wine. The smoky oak element recurs on the back end. This will need time to show its inherent soil complexity.