This starts with that faintly sherbet note you often find on wines with less punch from the more marginal villages – think St.Romain. There’s a little faint oak note note that helps fill-out the aromas at the bottom and eventually a much more favourable core of yellow fruit. Above average intensity for the label, very fine acidity – then a surprise – a deep and clear extra dimension of flavour in the mid-palate; a little wood-derived vanilla cream; it’s a warm, Côte de Beaune type of flavour that would still – even at this regional level – distinguish the bottle from, for instance Chablis. The finish is a little more mineral and also holds-on reasonably well. This is very successful indeed.
2008
2008 Drouhin Joseph (Domaine de Vaudon) Chablis Reserve de Vaudon
Medium-pale lemon-yellow. The nose starts in a forward way, the aromas are somewhere on the border between oak toast and earthy minerality – it’s a great balancing act – slowly it is more towards the toasty bread part of the spectrum. In the mouth, the concentration gives a decent slightly oily, padded texture, but it’s a transient impression as the zinging grapefruit-style acidity takes hold. There is a sweetness that is the perfect foil to that grapefruit. Refreshing, not bad length, this is superb for the price and already a candidate for house wine 2010! A small amount left for day 2 had no trace of toast whatsoever, but was also missing that perfect sweet/acid balance of day 1 – so don’t save any!