A Stone's Throw from Richebourg
2007 Drouhin Vosne-Romanée
1er Cru Les Petits Monts
20% Below the Lowest Price in the Nation
This is one of those wines that, frankly, elicits a little bit of geek drool from collectors. Like Les Cras from Roumier, Clos St. Jacques from Rousseau, or Meo's Cros Parantoux...
They're consistently outstanding year in and year out, they aren't all that easy to find, and their prices - typically - are in line with their feverish markets. Not today: 2007 Drouhin Petits Monts for just under $100 a bottle - 20% below the lowest price in the nation.
Every year, this is one of our favorite little gem Vosne-Romanées. A sentimentalist collector friend once told me, "Sometimes, you don't need to be able to explain why you love a wine... it just gets you here," he said, motioning to his core, "and that's enough." Drouhin's Petits Monts does that for me, but I'll still try to explain for you here part of why I love this wine.
We haven't come across many bottles of 07 premier or grand crus that are as completely delicious right now as this is. A fresh, lively vintage where wines from the best producers really stood out from the pack, 2007 fit the Drouhin style perfectly, the domain's signature purity and transparency coming through crystal clear, a showcase of vibrant fruit.
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Stephen and I cracked a bottle of the 07 Petits Monts at the bar at Seasonal restaurant last month, and while we were expecting it to be pretty, we weren't ready to be so wowed by its generosity, finesse and just how gorgeous this already is.
Though the assumption is that 2007s need to be drunk up in their youth, Drouhin's have incredible balance and concentration for the vintage. My best guess is that these are going to shock people with their vigor - five years, as a conservative estimate. I'd bet this wine will be beautiful with 10 years on it.
The nose and palate are both full of ultra-pure, juicy, concentrated wild red berries, just a hint of that signature Vosne spice, and a quiet, well-tuned bass note of forest floor, all coasting on a silky current of ripe tannins.
This is classic Drouhin, and it highlights why we're a little obsessed with the domain.
Véronique Drouhin took over full-time winemaking at Maison Joseph Drouhin in 2006, and she's holding the torch beautifully, continuing to make wines that, like her, are poised and eloquent, wines that emphasize jewel-like fruit and elegance and speak with calm confidence of their respective terroirs.
While Drouhin doesn't currently have any grand cru presence in Vosne-Romanée, the Petits Monts is their marquee site here, and it's a site that continues to turn out "grand" wines with a clear Vosne pedigree. It's actually owned by Véronique; I can't help but think that in the winery she puts a little extra love into making this particular wine.
On the map, the Petits Monts site is, literally, a small stone's throw away from La Romanée and Richebourg. It sits just upslope and across a tiny pathway from Richebourg, with La Romanée kitty-corner to the southeast. The prices on those neighboring wines, of course, are well out of the reach of any stone's throw, and that contrast is part of what makes today's offer more appealing yet.
Drouhin's plot in Petits Monts is farmed biodynamically, Véronique having told us that experiments with biodynamic practices showed a clear improvement in the quality of the fruit - enough to warrant the total crossover. Indeed, this is an extra au naturel plot, worked by horse and plow as there's no path for a tractor, and all harvested by hand. The vines average just over 50 years old and are turning out perfectly concentrated yet nimble, fresh fruit that sees only 20% new oak, its influence evident only in texture - merely a base-layer, little-bit-velvety blanket covered in sheets of silk. Just really impressive.
The bottom line is that the value and consistently luminous, delightful quality of Drouhin's wines are making these some of my favorite Burgundies right now.
To place your order, email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Ian McFadden
Director, Fine & Rare Wines
Crush Wine & Spirits
1er Cru Les Petits Monts
Wine is pre-arrival
NET | No further discount