Good full, deep red. Reticent but complex nose hints at rose petal, crushed stone, leather and pepper. Densely packed but cool and closed, with the peppery quality carrying through in the mouth and giving the wine an austere quality. But this extremely young wine is also impressively vibrant for the year. This will require patience. Philippe Drouhin notes that this fruit was harvested late, but with a low pH.

Mild wood spice frames an elegant and kaleidoscopic nose of high-toned red and black berry fruit aromas liberally laced with natural spices that offer impressive nuance and excellent complexity that introduces supple, finely detailed and beautifully textured flavors wrapped in a dusty, mineral-infused and austere but not hard finish. This is decidedly backward at present and like the Musigny and Clos de Vougeot will require ample cellar time to really blossom.

Drouhin’s 2007 Chambertin Clos de Beze displays a brightness of fresh black fruits as well as an invigoration that is rare for its vintage. Bitter herbal, licorice, rose water mingle with the wine’s sappy berry concentration, and it boasts impressive length as well as the sort of firm but fine-grained tannin that encourages one to put some in the cellar for 8-10 years. “2008 was very slow in doing its malolactic – which was good, and ended up with a pretty lively impression of acidity” remarked Veronique Boss-Drouhin, “and I think the wines will be slow to evolve in bottle, as well.” Numerous cuvees were still in tank or barrel when I visited in March, which constitutes an unusually late schedule at this address. The 2007s, by contrast, were bottled even earlier than normal, most at age 12 months. In 2008, a 15-25% share of stems and whole clusters was included in the fermenting vat for the Clos des Mouches and for most of the Drouhin grand crus, whereas in 2007 that degree of vendange entier was practically the rule across the entire Drouhin range (by no means all of which I tasted). Importer: Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818-0770

More whole bunches, more spice. Sweet red fruit on the palate. Stems give spice, according to Véronique Drouhin. Fine grained, freshly perfumed but also spicy and wth great depth and length. More masculine than les Amoureuses. Upright and somehow honourable if not an easy charmer at the moment. (JH)