The first-ever wine of village appellation chez Raveneau, their 2007 Chablis represents the initial crop from less than a hectare of young vines in the Montmains sector, a mixture of selection massale from the estate with diverse clones. Smelling bitter-sweetly of citrus oil along with hints of lanolin from its brief stay in cask, this comes onto the palate full of ripe peach, pineapple, and citrus and strikingly delicate and energizing, yet alluringly creamy in texture. With less grip or sense of finishing mineral character than the best of its fellow 2007 generics – a circumstance one is tempted to attribute to young vines – it is nonetheless a real charmer, with plenty of zesty and herbal subtlety and a buoyant, refreshing finish. Bernard Raveneau views his bright, mineral-inflected 2007s – picked from September 10-16 – as potentially richer versions of 2004, since the former, he indicates, have gained in textural allure during their elevage. That also explains why he did not plan to bottle most of these 2007s until late spring or summer, and I have accordingly not tasted them since bottling. (Incidentally, Raveneau is very excited and intrigued by his 2008s, wines with an effusion of floral and herbal youthful aromatics that he says he has never before encountered, but whose finished results he speculated might combine aspects of 2006 and 2007.) Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel (510) 524-1524