The truly amazing 2007 Joseph Drouhin Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche is a vinous work of art. Still incredibly young, the 2007 offers a tight core of remarkably pure pomaceous orchard fruit, lemony minerality and a hint of waxy butteriness that is hard to forget. An infant but already splendid, the 2007 is going to develop into something even more memorable than it already is.

The 2007 Montrachet Marquies de Laguiche exudes decadent lily and musk oil aromas; practically detonates on the palate with ripe peach and a puff of brown spices and smoke; offers a seductively creamy and expansive amalgam of nut oils, honey, and pasted orchard fruits; and reverberates in a finish with tactile chalk dust, fruit skin, brown spice and citrus zest impingement. Here is a marvelous example of concentration allied to elegance and – in keeping with its vintage in general and especially chez Drouhin – an unusually forward and youthfully seductive exemplar of its appellation, but one I certainly anticipate will gain in complexity in coming years and to be worth following for a dozen or more. Veronique Drouhin-Boss expressed enormous – and, in my view, justifiable – satisfaction with the 2007 crop of Drouhin whites, admitting that their sense of concentration might strike some observers as paradoxical given the vintage’s relatively high yields. Regular batonnage seems to have been a successful policy here, at least as judged by flattering textures and overt richness (almost atypically so for the vintage) short-term. For an account of Drouhin’s Chablis from 2007, consult the separate report on that region in this issue. Importer: Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818 0770

In contrast to the relative expressiveness of the majority of the prior wines, here the nose is decidedly restrained, offering up only grudging notes of pain grillé that frame pure aromas of white flower and fresh pear with subtle spice notes that continue onto the balanced, long and gorgeously refined big-bodied flavors that exude a distinct stoniness while building towards a powerful, mouth coating and palate staining finish that delivers striking persistence. A distinguished effort that will age for years because of the excellent underlying material and impeccable balance. Drink 2017+ (July 2009)

Almonds on the nose, then great richness and vibrancy even if not quite the depth of some vintages. Very racy. Some green citrus fruit flavours and great length. (JR)