The Prieur 2007 Beaune Champs Pimonts had been in bottle two months when I tasted it and quite possibly in part on that account was open and expressive. Pineapple and lemon oil make for a pungent, fresh aroma and palate impression, with the wine's generous, juicy citrus harmoniously complimented by alluring creaminess and subtle flavor inflections from lees and barrel. While not notably nuanced or complex, this is irresistibly exuberant, palpably dense, and both lively and mineral in stony, salty senses in its finish. I would plan to enjoy it over the next 3-5 years. The 2004 here, incidentally, is currently aromatically expressive, but has never shed a slight discord between its bright citric aspects and its creamy, lees-inflected aspects. Oenologist Nadine Gublin did not begin harvesting the Prieur Chardonnay until September 10, finishing a week later. The wines (with the exception of the Montrachet) all weighed-in between 13-13.5% alcohol and none were chaptalized. Malo-lactic fermentations were slow, the wines were inexpressive early, hence Gublin elected to bottle them 2-4 months later than usual (using a new bottling system). As a result, I have only tasted the best of them as assembled in tank. A comparison of the 2004s side-by-side was fascinating, and among other things bore out Gublin's assertion that -the big difference between 2004 and 2007 was the presence of over-ripeness and of enormous heterogeneity of ripeness- in the former. After the completion of renovations that were ongoing when I visited, the whites in a gravity-flow facility will be vinified entirely separately from the reds, and subject to sophisticated air purification and temperature controls of both tanks and cellar. New tractors and personnel will be on hand from 2010 to assist a transition to organic viticulture. In all these respects, the idealism and ambition exhibited at this estate are formidable.Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700
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