2008 Chablis Les Clos
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Tasting notes
Fresh lime, sweetly ripe cherry, white peach, grapefruit, lime, and chalk dust in the nose of the Droin 2008 Chablis Les Clos lead to a polished, richly-, almost lushly-textured palate impression, yet one with palpable underlying sense of mineral extract as well as infectious and uplifting brightness and elegance. The finish is at once enveloping and electric, with smoky, stony, peppery, and saline mineral aspects vibrantly shimmering through deep pools of fruit. Far and away the finest wine I have yet tasted from Droin, this should be worth following for a dozen or more years. ”I think 2007 displays a bit more finesse than 2008 and might have the edge in ten or fifteen years,” suggests Benoit Droin’s, but adds that he doesn’t perceive his more generous 2008s – which he compares with 2002 – as less impressive today. Nor, in the least, do I: in fact, they represent the most exciting collection I have so-far tasted here; in my opinion a significant advance on Droin’s 2007s. I hope his estimated time frame proves accurate, but this is admittedly another of those Chablis addresses where – even putting aside one’s general concerns about premature oxidation – the rise in quality and the influence of a new generation are too recent to really be able to treat results from the 1990s as predictive of today’s wines’ evolution. Droin bottled all of his 2008s already in September. Unfortunately due to a schedule change that put us both under time pressure, I was able to taste only around 70% of the entire collection. Importer: Eric Solomon Selections, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565
Critic scores
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Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Bright yellow. Complex aromas of lime, menthol, crushed stone and smoky silex Cutting, racy, classy wine; reticent but quite pure, with a tactile, palate-dusting quality and terrific inner-mouth energy. Most impressive today on the rising finish. No impression of thickness here; in fact, this boasts a lovely light touch. I'd like to have seen this wine made with less oak influence, but that may be quibbling.
Very tingly on the nose and with real spirit and lift on the palate. Racier than the Blanchot with real solidity. Very fine. (JR)
Pale, bright yellow. Steely aromas of underripe pineapple, white peach and oyster shell. Dense, tactile and distinctly sappy, showing much less inner-mouth sweetness but more precision than the Grenouilles. This also aged in 50% oak but is much less marked by the wood. The bright lime and mineral flavors are complemented by a smoky, flinty silex quality. A very firmly built wine and the longest of these 2008s, with lovely energy and lift to its finishing flavors of lime and crushed stone.