2007 Puligny Montrachet Les Combettes

The Girardin 2007 Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes adds musk melon to the predictable repertoire of peach and lemon, offering an especially flatteringly creamy texture that – as with other of the best 2007s – by no means precludes vivacity or refreshment. Wafting floral perfume and underlying nut oil and malt richness contribute to the allure. But there is plenty of mineral depth here, too – suggestive inter alia of oyster liquor and shrimp shell – that sets up a dynamic interaction with the wine's abundant fruit. This finishes with a tug on the salivary glands, stomach, and imagination alike. I would anticipate close to a decade's intrigue and enjoyment, perhaps more. Girardin is keen to emphasize his being the sold proprietor with more than one parcel in Combettes, as he believes the two he owns – at the northern and southern extremes of the site – offer unique complementarity. Vincent Girardin picked until past mid-September, with most of his top sites being brought in only from the 10th; allowed skin contact he would have avoided until recent years; and beat the lees on his young wines only until Christmas, but then bottled – with a light fining, and in many instances no filtration – only in May, 2009 to maximize passive time on the lees. The regimen of new wood here (now 20-30% depending on cru) represents a drastic diminution in just the past several years, and the 2007s strike me as far more comfortable in their skins than those of 2004-2006, benefiting also from the freshness and vivacity that characterize the vintage. He picked a week too late in 2006, opines Girardin with hindsight, but then, this was almost unavoidable in at least some instances for a vintner with such huge acreage. Girardin finds his 2007s especially marked by the typicity of each individual site, not only to a greater degree than in the two more obviously ripe preceding vintages, but also than in 2008. This is an aspect he is convinced will gradually be enhanced by a conversion to biodynamic methods that is underway. Girardin's 2007 musts were selectively chaptalized and finished wines here are largely in the vicinity of 13% alcohol. As usual, given the vast array of estate and negociant wines at this address (the latter status noted, where applicable, in my texts), I was not able to take time for tasting them all; in particular omitting the generics. Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802