BLANC 2007
- 2007 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru white (92-94)
- 2007 Chassagne-Montrachet "Caillerets" 1er white (91-93)
- 2007 Chassagne-Montrachet "Grandes Ruchottes" 1er white (90-92)
- 2007 Chassagne-Montrachet "La Romanée" 1er white (90-93)
- 2007 Corton Grand Cru white (89-92)
- 2007 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru white (92-94)
- 2007 Meursault "Charmes" 1er white (90-92)
- 2007 Meursault "Genevrières" 1er white (91-93)
- 2007 Meursault "Perrières" 1er white (91-94)
- 2007 Nuits St. Georges "Les Terres Blanches" 1er white (88-90)
- 2007 Pernand-Vergelesses "Sous Frétille" 1er white (88-90)
- 2007 Puligny-Montrachet "Champ Gains" 1er white 91
- 2007 Puligny-Montrachet "Enseignères" white (89-91)
- 2007 Puligny-Montrachet "Folatières" 1er white (91-93)
Mounir and Rotem Saouma established their two-person micro-négoce in 1999. They describe the 2007 vintage as one "where you had to get the harvest date just right and just right parcel by parcel. The key to the chardonnay was to have reasonable yields and to have patience. We saw plenty of fruit that had been picked too early and were persuaded by this that timing accounted for a great deal in 2007. The other key to the vintage was a long élevage so that the wines could feed off of their fine lees. The ‘07s are certainly pretty and refined but they’re not naturally dense, indeed not even when your yields were reasonable and thus this ability to have extended lees contact has added flesh and fat. Moreover, with the exception of the Champ Gains, which is now in bottle, none of the wines have been racked and they will all be bottled without fining or filtration." Saouma pointed out again that because his cellars are very cold with naturally long malos, the wines always have some residual CO2 in them and thus they should be decanted. Readers should be aware that there will also be two versions of Montrachet, one from the Puligny side and the other from the Chassagne side; the Chassagne cuvée will be denoted as Le Montrachet on the label. Neither is reviewed here because the malos of both wines were barely even one-third completed.
2007 Pernand-Vergelesses "Sous Frétille": A perfumed nose of cool white flower and green fruit aromas trimmed in pain grillé hints leads to intense, detailed and lightly mineral suffused flavors, all wrapped in a sappy, balanced and attractively lingering finish. Good if not special quality. (88-90)/2011+
2007 Nuits St. Georges "Les Terres Blanches": (100% chardonnay). An interesting nose of straw, grapefruit and a hint of muscat merges into rich, full and rustic flavors that carry a hint of vegetal influence over to the delicious, racy and minerally finish. This is not elegant but offers plenty of character in a soil driven context. (88-90)/2011+
2007 Meursault "Charmes": A completely different nose offers up notes of hazelnut, orchard fruit, pear and orange peel that precedes rich and generous yet nicely detailed flavors that possess good mid-palate fat and enough dry extract to buffer the moderately firm acid spine on the admirably long finish. This is very Charmes and pretty enough but it can’t match its two Meursault 1er stable mates for refinement. (90-92)/2013+
2007 Meursault "Genevrières": A ripe, mildly exotic and expressive nose of white peach, apricot, floral aromas and spice hints give way to detailed and punchy flavors that carry the same size and weight of the Charmes yet manage to also offer more overall refinement and a lovely finishing minerality. This is a classy effort and I very much like the explosive and balanced finish. (91-93)/2014+
2007 Meursault "Perrières": Like the Caillerets this too borders on the mineral reduction often seen in the wines of Chablis with a floral and lemony nose that is followed by ultra detailed, energetic, delineated and almost painfully intense flavors that also seem to be extracted from liquid rock, all wrapped in a hugely long and palate staining finish. Terrific. (91-94)/2014+
2007 Chassagne-Montrachet "Grandes Ruchottes": A leesy nose blocks the more subtle elements though it does not continue onto the powerful, and sizeable, flavors brimming with dry extract on the rich, concentrated and mouth coating finish that possesses near perfect balance and excellent length. A big, indeed even dramatic, wine if not necessarily one of great refinement. (90-92)/2013+
2007 Chassagne-Montrachet "Caillerets": By contrast, this is a wine of refinement with a pure nose of citrus blossom and wet stone where both elements carry over to the ultra fine and detailed medium-bodied flavors that seem extracted directly from liquid rock, all wrapped in an explosive and hugely long finish. This is a really impressive effort that finishes with a kind of mineral reduction most often seen in Chablis. (91-93)/2013+
2007 Chassagne-Montrachet "La Romanée": Naturally exotic and highly seductive aromas that carry good spice and a background leesy hint merge into detailed, pure and lightly mineral flavors that are bigger and richer than those of the Caillerets but less minerally culminate in a deep, mouth coating and impressively long finish. Good stuff and all three of these Chassagne 1ers convey well their intrinsic characters. (90-93)/2013+
2007 Puligny-Montrachet "Enseignères": A discreet oak application sets off notes of ripe citrus and acacia blossom that complement the detailed and energetic middle weight flavors that culminate in a hint of minerality and a bone dry finish. This is a pretty, even elegant effort that is very Puligny in character. (89-91)/2012+
2007 Puligny-Montrachet "Champ Gains": Not surprisingly given the considerable difference in altitude, this is cooler, airier and a bit more elegant as well with white flower and citrus nuances that are in keeping with the detailed, racy, pure and punchy middle weight flavors that possess a lovely underlying sense of tension on the bone dry and lengthy finish. I like the balance and precision and this should age well. 91/2013+
2007 Puligny-Montrachet "Folatières": (from vines of approximately 100 years of age). A touch of reduction knocks down the nose but does not prevent the intense, detailed and refined flavors from displaying their quality as they are racy, sappy and explosive on the bone dry and hugely long finish. The old vine concentration is immediately apparent and while the Champ Gains is certainly good, there is clearly another dimension present here. (91-93)/2013+
2007 Corton: This too is relatively leesy and hard to read aromatically but the rich, full and powerful broad-shouldered flavors have good concentration and really coat the palate with extract and while there is not much elegance or finesse to the bone dry finish, it does offer outstanding length. As the name suggests, this is more of a red wine made from chardonnay than a Corton-Charlemagne substitute. (89-92)/2014+
2007 Corton-Charlemagne: (from vines in Pernand). By contrast, this is exceptionally elegant with a white flower, spice, mineral and green apple nose gracefully introducing intense, powerful and notably finer big-bodied flavors that really are borderline painful in their intensity, all wrapped in a driving, tension-filled and beautifully detailed finish. Note though that as impressive as it is, the depth of material and austerity of the finish will require some years to flesh out. (92-94)/2015+
2007 Bâtard-Montrachet: (from Chassagne vines). A completely different and more floral nose is more aromatically complex before marrying into the rich and full flavors that are not super concentrated but possess superb depth and unexpectedly good precision on the explosively long and palate staining finish. This doesn’t have the minerality of the Corton-Charlemagne but the textured mouth feel and sheer intensity are most impressive. And like the prior wine, note that patience will absolutely be required. (92-94)/2015+ |
