2007 Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils Chablis Valmur Grand Cru

Salted chicken stock and shrimp shell reduction – along with fresh lemon – already define the aromas of Moreau’s 2007 Chablis Valmur, and follow on a palate that manages to combine richness and underlying density with vivacity (here, almost electric) in a manner familiar from this year’s Vaudesir. Prominent citrus and orchard fruits made for a generous mid-palate. The 50-year-old vines on steep slopes that inform this wine seem able to render juice that can resist the wood. (Their clusters always exhibit a lot of millerandage, says Moreau.) Citrus pip and cherry stone bitterness along with overt chalkiness lend a touch of austerity to the finish, but this offers some counterpoint to generosity that dominated this wine until that point. It should merit attention for 6-8 years. I confessed in issue 179 to my difficulties in entirely appreciating the vinous results of Christian and Fabien Moreau’s clearly enormously quality-conscious and diligent efforts (described there in some detail), especially in view of awkwardly detached notes of oak and sometimes of lactic acidity. The nature of the 2007 vintage seems to have mitigated this somewhat, and the vivacity of these wines as a group is noteworthy and highly encouraging. I was given a fascinating opportunity this spring to taste the four earlier vintages of Moreau Les Clos, and while unconvinced by its three predecessors, I found the 2006 more elegant and refined, with its woodiness a bit toned down from when I reviewed it in issue 179, although it betrays some heat. Fabien Moreau says he targets 12.5% as an ideal measure of alcohol, which required chaptalizing his 2007s slightly, so the richness and body that these wines exhibit does not come from there. Picking commenced here September 6 because, Fabien Moreau maintained, his fruit was ripe by then. Beginning with 2008, the wines will all – at least, in principle – be fermented exclusively with indigenous yeasts, as was already the case with most of the 2007s, and the viticulture regimen will continue to move in a biodynamic direction. Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700