2007 Meursault Les Perrieres

Normandy cider, apple blossom, narcissus, and orange blossom scent Matrot's 2007 Meursault Perrieres, which comes to the palate satiny in texture, featuring pure white peach underlain by toasted nuts and chalk, but without relinquishing its aura of enticing floral perfume. A vibratory, intense mineral, fruit, and floral exchange builds here to a finish of palate-etching citricity and minerality. This great example of 2007 energy, intensity, and elegance should merit 10 or a dozen years of attention. This bottling – representing nine barrels – is sold under the Pierre Matrot label and imported exclusively by Chateau and Estate Wines. Thierry Matrot defied not just convention, but also my attempts to make sense of the 2007 vintage – forcing me, ultimately, to simply treat him as an exception – since he proudly confessed to a Chardonnay harvest that began in the last days of August, yet the results are simply superb, not to mention far more distinctively delicious than those he obtained in 2006 (when – again in contrarian fashion – he picked late). And he rendered his outstanding 2007s – he claims – without chaptalization, the wines finishing in the upper 12s of percent alcohol. "2005 and 2005 were more honeyed and rich, but 2007 corresponds more to my style of cuisine," says Matrot, adding that while he harvested 2004 late, those wines were not as ripe as these 2007s, which he is more inclined to compare with 2002. Matrot bottles early – usually immediately after racking and assembling (although very late malos in 2008 threatened to wreck havoc with that habit) – and, incidentally, has been so pleased with his experimental use of screw cap closures (including for all of his half bottles since vintage 2004) that he has now expanded their use to incorporate his village wine in 750. Importers: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802 and Diageo Chateau and Estate Wines Company, New York, NY; tel. (212) 419-1400