Finding the Elite Values in White Burgundy
2007 Drouhin Beaune "Clos des Mouches" Blanc
On the Short List of Top White Burgundy Collectors
Unlike "Vosne-Romanée" or "Puligny-Montrachet," "Beaune" has little of the obvious cachet, the easy name-recognition...
...which is sort of the point.
After all, left of center, this is where the values are - especially in today's ultra-competitive Burgundy.
Make no mistake, what we're offering today is not "a Chardonnay value" in the general sense. This is not a wine for simple pool-side refreshment.
This is a world class white Burgundy, a deep wine of incredible concentration, purity. This is a wine that without a doubt flirts with Grand Cru quality in the best years, to the unending bewilderment of just about everyone. (Allen Meadows has written recently about being floored by both the 1945 and 1949 Drouhin Clos des Mouches Blanc. There is just something very special about this wine...)
We are not charting new territory here: Drouhin's 1er Cru "Clos des Mouches" Blanc has been an insider's secret for many, many years. This is one of those bottles you find without fail in those glossy cellars full of Montrachet, those vaulted cellars with wooden case after wooden case full of 1st Growth Bordeaux.
The consistency and dedication the top collectors show this wine is actually pretty incredible.
2007 offers us one of the top Clos des Mouches from Drouhin; this is a wine where the freshness of the vintage balanced, perfectly, the opulent depth of material the Clos des Mouches offers.
Indeed, Drouhin, with their emphasis on wines of purity had a field day with 2007 - the wines nearly across the board are simply spectacular. (More on this to come...)
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The 07 Clos des Mouches will impress Meursault drinkers (and we're talking the top dogs here: Bouchard, Colin-Morey, Lafon, Roulot, to name a few); there is a weight here, a momentum with which the wine unfolds itself across the palate that naturally leads to such comparisons.
But there's also something a bit more overtly sexy, something a bit more honey-laden, a bit more floral and sweet... The Clos des Mouches is a powerful wine, with a tension (especially in 2007) that is sort of jarring, so it does not have the supreme elegance of say a Montrachet, but still... there is that gesture towards decadence, toward the glossy weight and curves that are fleshy, seducing...
..or, to put it perhaps more bluntly: This wine is sexy and way beautiful.
Tasted alongside wines twice as expensive, it will more than hold its own. Frankly, this was one of my favorite bottles at La Paulée in San Francisco, and the wines that show up at that Burgundy fête are numerous and legendary.
The Burghound gives this wine a big score and his praise: "Sweet spot outstanding!"
We say, for anyone really wanting to delve into white Burgundy, or for anyone simply looking for some world class white Burgundy, this bottle is a must-have. Outstanding indeed.
To order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Ian McFadden
Director, Fine + Rare Wine
Crush Wine & Spirits