2007 - Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos, Joseph Drouhin

In a surprising apparent role reversal that Veronique Boss-Drouhin cautions may be temporary, her 2007 Chablis Les Clos occupies the palate more with luscious, ripe white peach and lime, and less with mineral matter than the corresponding Vaudesir. Hints of strawberry and vanilla and a fine saline savor add allure, and it finishes with palpable density and persistence of fruit skin phenolics, but not much overt chalkiness for a young wine from its site. It should be well worth re-visiting over at minimum a 7- to 9-year period, and may well need time to demonstrate its true distinction. Drouhin 2007 Chablis offerings aptly illustrate the house style: understated yet immediately engaging and full of nuance, polished but not in the least superficial. Importer: Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818-0770

Pale straw-yellow color. Deeper-pitched on the nose than the Vaudesir, hinting at white peach, lime and powdered stone. Richer and more saline in the mouth, with a distinctly chewier, more tactile texture. A step up in intensity and length too, but I love the purity of the Vaudesir. (Incidentally, beginning with the 2008s, these wines will be labeled Drouhin Vaudon. Philippe Drouhin noted that 2008 marked the family's 40th vintage in Chablis.)