2008 Chablis Les Preuses

North Carolina-born, Cote de Beaune-based Blair Pethel (for more about whom consult previous Burgundy reports) has once again turned in a sensational performance from arguably the single sweetest spot in the Auxerre with a 2008 Chablis Preuses that exhibits much the same exotic, animalistic, and mysteriously mineral multi-dimensionality as well as the richness of the corresponding 2007, but from healthier fruit and allied to greater energy and brightness. Musky perfume of narcissus and peony; Jurancon-like animal scents; and ripe peach as well as diverse citrus in the nose lead to a lushly-textured, supremely elegant, buoyant, mouth-watering palate showered with crystalline minerality, electrically charged with efficacious citrus and suffused with the sweet, saline scallop-like savor that wine from this site can so uncannily reproduce. A kaleidoscopic display of floral, mineral, animal and fruit nuances is assured for at least most of the coming decade, and I suspect that this beauty will considerably outdistance the slightly richer and (unusually for its vintage) more decadent 2007. A Becky Wasserman Selection (various importers), Le Serbet; fax 011- 333-80-24-29-70; Pas Mal Selections, New York, NY; tel. (201) 567 2028, Schneider’s of Capital Hill, Washington, DC tel. (202) 543 9300 and Chelsea Ventures,1601 South Canal Street, Chicago, Illinois 60616 tel (847) 920-5052