2008 Chorey Les Beaune

The Drouhin 2008 Chorey-les-Beaune (which was still being held in tank when I tasted it) once again represents excellent value for its price – as have been a couple of its other vintage incarnations this decade –but still offers generous charm. Scents of almond extract and fresh cherry presage a berry-tart palate featuring juicy, chalk- and cherry pit-tinged persistence. I would plan on enjoying this over the next 3-5 years. Incidentally, I was sorry to see that Drouhin discontinued their also excellent-value, multi-village “Vero” cuvees. Veronique Boss-Drouhin said it proved too hard to “explain” to U.S. consumers what those wines were. “2008 was very slow in doing its malolactic – which was good, and ended up with a pretty lively impression of acidity” remarked Veronique Boss-Drouhin, “and I think the wines will be slow to evolve in bottle, as well.” Numerous cuvees were still in tank or barrel when I visited in March, which constitutes an unusually late schedule at this address. The 2007s, by contrast, were bottled even earlier than normal, most at age 12 months. In 2008, a 15-25% share of stems and whole clusters was included in the fermenting vat for the Clos des Mouches and for most of the Drouhin grand crus, whereas in 2007 that degree of vendange entier was practically the rule across the entire Drouhin range (by no means all of which I tasted). Importer: Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818-0770