2007 Puligny Montrachet Les Combettes

Both intensely, brightly citric and at the same time overlain with lanolin and vanilla from barrel, the Prieur 2007 Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes backs up this somewhat bifurcated initial impression with luscious peach and pineapple that mingle with chalk, salt, and smoke in a sustained finish. Typical for its vintage at this estate, this is flatteringly creamy in texture even as it is full of refreshment. It should be worth following for at least 5-7 years during which it will be interesting to taste for enhanced complexity. Oenologist Nadine Gublin did not begin harvesting the Prieur Chardonnay until September 10, finishing a week later. The wines (with the exception of the Montrachet) all weighed-in between 13-13.5% alcohol and none were chaptalized. Malo-lactic fermentations were slow, the wines were inexpressive early, hence Gublin elected to bottle them 2-4 months later than usual (using a new bottling system). As a result, I have only tasted the best of them as assembled in tank. A comparison of the 2004s side-by-side was fascinating, and among other things bore out Gublin's assertion that -the big difference between 2004 and 2007 was the presence of over-ripeness and of enormous heterogeneity of ripeness- in the former. After the completion of renovations that were ongoing when I visited, the whites in a gravity-flow facility will be vinified entirely separately from the reds, and subject to sophisticated air purification and temperature controls of both tanks and cellar. New tractors and personnel will be on hand from 2010 to assist a transition to organic viticulture. In all these respects, the idealism and ambition exhibited at this estate are formidable. Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700