2008 Chablis Montmains

Droin’s 2008 Chablis Montmains is firm and overtly chalky as well as brightly citric and laced with pungent, high-toned suggestions of herb distillates. It finishes with positively palate-scouring intensity – or at least, scours away everything else, so that it can lastingly assert itself. The slightly higher (roughly one-third) share of barrel maturation here vis-a-vis the Vaillons might be one reason it lacks that wine’s sense of clarity or sheer primary, generous citrus juiciness, but this is still formidable; will be well worth following for at least 4-5 years; and it may well spread its petals further with time in the bottle. ”I think 2007 displays a bit more finesse than 2008 and might have the edge in ten or fifteen years,” suggests Benoit Droin’s, but adds that he doesn’t perceive his more generous 2008s – which he compares with 2002 – as less impressive today. Nor, in the least, do I: in fact, they represent the most exciting collection I have so-far tasted here; in my opinion a significant advance on Droin’s 2007s. I hope his estimated time frame proves accurate, but this is admittedly another of those Chablis addresses where – even putting aside one’s general concerns about premature oxidation – the rise in quality and the influence of a new generation are too recent to really be able to treat results from the 1990s as predictive of today’s wines’ evolution. Droin bottled all of his 2008s already in September. Unfortunately due to a schedule change that put us both under time pressure, I was able to taste only around 70% of the entire collection. Importer: Eric Solomon Selections, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565