Pineapple, peach, and grapefruit, freesia and lily in the nose of Girardin’s 2007 Puligny-Montrachet Pucelles presage a bright, forward generosity of fruit and wafting floral perfume on the palate. Particles of chalk dust seem electrically charged by all of the citric energy on display here, yet there is the textural caress of satin, and in fact an overall sense of richness generous even by vintage standards. This finishes not just long and full of floral and mineral nuance, but with that particular lift that one gets from so many of the best 2007s. I'll certainly be disappointed if this does not continue to pay dividends for a decade.
Vincent Girardin picked until past mid-September, with most of his top sites being brought in only from the 10th; allowed skin contact he would have avoided until recent years; and beat the lees on his young wines only until Christmas, but then bottled – with a light fining, and in many instances no filtration – only in May, 2009 to maximize passive time on the lees. The regimen of new wood here (now 20-30% depending on cru) represents a drastic diminution in just the past several years, and the 2007s strike me as far more comfortable in their skins than those of 2004-2006, benefiting also from the freshness and vivacity that characterize the vintage. He picked a week too late in 2006, opines Girardin with hindsight, but then, this was almost unavoidable in at least some instances for a vintner with such huge acreage. Girardin finds his 2007s especially marked by the typicity of each individual site, not only to a greater degree than in the two more obviously ripe preceding vintages, but also than in 2008. This is an aspect he is convinced will gradually be enhanced by a conversion to biodynamic methods that is underway. Girardin's 2007 musts were selectively chaptalized and finished wines here are largely in the vicinity of 13% alcohol. As usual, given the vast array of estate and negociant wines at this address (the latter status noted, where applicable, in my texts), I was not able to take time for tasting them all; in particular omitting the generics.
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