Drunk with friends over dinner in New York, the 2007 Clos des Lambrays was charming, with supple cherry fruit aromas, a bit of spice and smoke, and an earthy edge. The texture was round and supple, and there was none of the angular edges one can get from this year. The wine is approachable now and drinking well, with a silky, fine structure but there is enough length and balance to continue to age.

It is ironic that I went to Domaine du Clos des Lambrays immediately after my visit with Charles Van Canneyt of Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat, as we had just tasted his lovely Malconsorts and he noted that he had just drunk a magnum of the 2007 Clos des Lambrays with friends the week before, where they had found the wine full of promise but still way too young in magnum. Happily, there were still a supply of half bottles at the domaine, so Monsieur Brouin was able to show me a very suave and classy young ’07 Clos des Lambrays that was really quite lovely out of half. The bouquet is blossoming superbly in this format, offering up a deep and complex blend of dark berries, cassis, charred wood, Burgundian truffles, dark soil tones and a lovely topnote of spit-roasted gamebird (which would also be a very lovely accompaniment to this wine). On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and quite velvety on the attack, with moderate tannins, and excellent core of fruit, lovely soil signature and superb focus and grip on the long finish that is just starting to show some secondary layers of complexity. A beautiful example of the vintage. 2016-2040+.