2007 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

Mounir Saouma, who made wine at a Trappist monastery in the Middle East in the late '80s and also worked two stages with the monks of Abbaye St. Remy, who produce Rochefort beer, before coming to Burgundy, pointed out that there are essentially two kinds of white Burgundy being made today. The early-bottled category, he said, is essentially like beer. "It can be delicious, and not vulgar, but it doesn't have the body or the length of great wine," he explained. "The other category is a type of wine you can compare with great red wines: wines that make you dream. Unfortunately, it's the first category of wine that is on the rise today in Burgundy." Saouma encourages very slow fermentations (alcoholic as well as malolactic) and is never in a hurry to bottle his wines. Indeed, only a few 2008s were in a condition to taste at the time of my visit, although Saouma pointed out that the naturally low yield of 2008 is a "reason for optimism." The '07s, which generally finished their malolactic fermentations between June and September of 2008, were the focus of my tasting this spring, and they are splendid. Saouma's suppliers typically harvested on the late side, and his long elevage has clearly given these wines an added measure of richness. Several of the 2007s were still in tank-or even in barriques-at the end of May. The best of them show the finishing whiplash of flavor that characterizes the best white Burgundies.

"The key in 2007 was to have low crop loads and then to wait to pick," said Mounir Saouma, who compared his young 2007 whites to his 2004s. "It was critical to extract sweetness and depth through long malolactic fermentations and elevage," he went on. "The wines have structure but need more of a middle, and the middle is coming from the lees." Saouma noted that global warming is "great for the vineyards but horrible for the cellars." From the '60s through the '80s we harvested 15 times in October, he told me. "But since 2000 we have picked three times in August. The cellars are usually very warm in September, so quick and early malos are possible. And then producers are forced to bottle their wines too early and in a rush." My notes on '07s are limited to wines that had finished their malolactic fermentations, but others were in mid-malo or had not even started. Incidentally, Saouma believes 2006 to be Burgundy's best vintage for white wine in 20 years.(Vintus, Pleasantville, NY; Chicago Wine Merchants Selections, Chicago, IL; Atherton Wine Imports, Atherton, CA)