2007 Chablis Village

"More vivid than 2007," said Laurent Tribut about his set of 2008s. "The wines show a lot of force on the end-like the '96s, but the '96s were higher in acidity." Tribut did not chaptalize in 2008, after having raised the alcohol levels of his '07s by about 0.3%. The malos ended late, in March, and the wines had been in barrels for about two months when I stopped by to visit. Tribut told me that his son recently bought some village Chablis land. With three of his four kids now working with him at this small domain, Tribut added, he needs to enlarge his holdings. But although bulk prices have plunged since last fall, very little vineyard land is on the market yet. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)

Tribut's normal response to a question about vintage quality is a shrug of the shoulders. In the case of 2007, he followed the shrug with a bit of description: "Nerveux wines, with too much acid in the end of the mouth. A bit more acid than 2004 but also more material. The wines have good texture but a slight hard edge on the back." The malos finished early, in cuve, after which most of the wines were moved into barriques; Tribut buys just three or four new barrels each year. Tribut, who is the brother-in-law of Vincent Dauvissat, owns just 1.5 hectares of premier crus, most of which is Beauroy. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)