Droin’s 2007 Chablis Fourchaume – nearly half of which was aged in young barriques – smells of resin, pungent herbs, and lanolin; comes to the palate with a breadth typical for this site, but accompanied by both richness of pit fruit and hints of citric refreshment; and finishes saline and zesty, with satisfying primary juiciness though also a hint of detached woodiness. This might well integrate with some time in bottle – Droin says he thinks it needs two years there – but I won’t try to predict what comes next. In striking contrast with the experience of most of his colleagues, Benoit Droin’s 2007s were very slow to begin – much less complete – their malolactic transformations. Droin believes in the potential of machine harvesting in a majority of his vineyards, even in a year with hail, and the bottled results once again point up the foolishness of glib generalizations such as abound on that particular subject. That said, the potential weak spot in some of his 2007s – perhaps due to much-reduced yields, perhaps to hail per se, and a feature to which some tasters will certainly be more sensitive than others – is their tendency toward bitterness. These wines weighed-in in the low 13s natural alcohol, a bit higher than the vintage norm.Importer: Eric Solomon Selections, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565