Croix’s 2008 Beaune Pertuisots – from a little-known site north of Vignes Franches – showcases the tart cherry-rhubarb melange familiar from a great many 2008s, here multiplied in its pungency by accents of sage, lavender, and green peppercorn. With its snappy brightness allied to fine-grained tannin, this finishes with almost vibratory intensity. Like most of the present collection, though, it is far more notable for its energy than for any sense of richness, and it will probably strike some tasters as overly lean.
Young David Croix has just added acreage in Aloxe (including Corton) to his recently-formed domaine (for more, consult my report in issue 186). He certainly has a spacious-enough – not to mention handsome – facility to accommodate much more, but seems intent on remaining in the modest 15-20 acre range, while also keeping very busy in his capacity as cellarmaster at Maison Camille Giroud (for more, consult my reports under that heading). Croix did not begin harvesting 2008s (his first crop grown entirely organically, incidentally) until September 29, continuing for ten days, and taking it on the chin as far as yields were concerned. “Nature dictated a small crop,” he relates, but the absence of warmth or sunshine prompted him to cut it back further. “I finished green-harvesting on a Friday;” he continues, “and on Saturday hail hit” many of his vines in Beaune and Savigny. ‘Then there was the concentration of berries by wind, plus the triage of unhealthy grapes.” With one exception, the 2008s had been bottled for a month when I tasted them in April.
A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet (various importers); fax 011-333-80-24-29-70
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