2007 Chassagne Montrachet Les Caillerets

Amiot’s 2007 Chassagne-Montrachet Caillerets smells of grapefruit, red currant, nectarine, white peach, and vanilla. Combining succulence of ripe pit fruit, bright citricity, and saline, chalky suggestions of things mineral on a silken-textured palate, this finishes with no problems of oak integration. Its vanilla and spice harmoniously wed lightly-toasted almond and ripe peach, and there are hints in this wine's long finish of a vivacious exchange between fruit and mineral elements that may well grow with a couple of years in bottle. I would anticipate it being worth following for 6-8 years. Thierry Amiot was one of a number of growers who admitted to me that their choice of starting date for the 2007 Chardonnay harvest was inevitably influenced by the presence of a crew who had just finished bringing in a ridiculously early crop of Pinot Noir, and that perhaps in the first days this picking might have been a bit too early for optimal Chardonnay flavor. Still, better that than any botrytis: Amiot’s 2007s are far more impressive than had been his collection of 2006s, which suffered occasional diffuse, volatile, or rough patches, and were really only convincing in the upper-echelons. The 30-50% new wood used here was once again evident, as are the results of batonnage (omitted in 2006). Finished alcohol levels this year do not exceed 13.5%, which is lower than in other recent Amiot vintages. As usual, village wines were bottled at one year and premier crus along with the reds, after 16 months. Importer; Kermit Lynch Wine Merchants, Berkeley, CA; tel (510) 524-1524