The 2007 Beaune Clos des Mouches is first and foremost an unusually powerful and broad wine for its vintage, as well as not coincidentally the highest in alcohol – at 13.75% – of this year’s Drouhin collection. It also displays musky and carnal elements and a seductively satiny texture in common with a number of its stable mates. Yet there is still a refreshing core of citrus present and a genuine sense of lift to the finish here at the same time that its grapefruit rind, toasted praline, and chalk dust seem to adhere indelibly. This should be fascinating wine to follow for the better part of then next decade, if not beyond. 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

Still young, of course, but already the wine is showing great fruits, smoothed by wood, offering style and sophistication. As it opens up, the flavors of pears and sweet apples join the toast and the ripeness. This is on the path to greatness; give it 5–6 years and more.——R.V.(7/1/2010)—— 94