2007 Puligny Montrachet Les Referts
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Tasting notes
The Sauzet 2007 Puligny-Montrachet Les Referts – from 55 year old vines in a clay-rich parcel right up against Meursault Charmes – is pungently and sweetly scented with heliotrope, lily, and lemon zest; palpable extract rich in its combination of chewy peach skin, lemon zest, salt, and chalk, with bitter hints of peach kernel and toasted nuts seemingly reflecting proximity to Meursault; and invigoratingly, tactilely long. Any tendency this bright, tensile wine would have towards austerity is ameliorated by its glycerin-rich texture, which also helps with a hint of finishing roughness. Gerard Boudot harvested the majority of his fruit during the first week in September, after what he considered to have been one last, critical week of ripening, and believing that it was more important to retain ripe acidity than go for a bit more potential alcohol. He reports having chaptalized selectively – largely at village level and to a very small degree – but the wines top out below 13% finished alcohol. Boudot did a rigorous selection not, he claimed, to remove rot but to cull any under-ripe berries and bunches. All of his 2007s were bottled by March, 2009 after their having spent 5-6 months assembled in tank, a period of passive watchfulness that is among diverse aspects of Boudot’s regimen to have been adjusted in recent years in response to high incidence of wines from the late ‘90s that displayed excessive oxidization after a half dozen years. The regimen of new oak here, incidentally, is 20-25% for the premier crus (with the exception of a bit more on Combettes), and never stands out as a factor detectable in itself. (The wines of this domaine legally belong to two entities, that of Domaine Etienne Sauzet and the company consisting of Boudot and his wife. In addition fruit is acquired for a few bottlings on long-term contract. I have not attempted to call attention to these differences in my notes, and in fact numerous crus represented here have multiple official owners.) Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802
Critic scores
Average Score
David Schildknecht, Vinous
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Very pale yellow. Ripe aromas of peach, spices and minerals. Supple, fresh and perfumed in the mouth, with brisk acidity giving shape to the white peach flavors. Nicely dense and backward wine with a solid spinal column. The pH here is a fairly low 3.17, notes Boudot, most of whose 2007s are in the healthy 3.2 range.
A slightly riper nose that is pure, elegant and expressive displays orchard fruit, especially white peach and pear, trimmed in freshly cut lemon hints that continue onto the bigger and richer flavors that offer a natural sweetness on the sappy, complex and beautifully balanced finish. Good juice and very Puligny.
Lively and delicate – and awfully expensive! Dry, herb oil finish. Good structure and cleanliness. (JR)