Blackberry and beet root in the nose of Croix’s 2007 Beaune Pertuisots migrate to a substantial, black pepper-tinged palate and this finishes with herbal and chalky inflections and excellent persistence, even if there is less ripeness or complexity than can be found in the 2005 or 2006 renditions, and less energy than in the 2008. Consume this over the next 3-4 years. Young David Croix has just added acreage in Aloxe (including Corton) to his recently-formed domaine (for more, consult my report in issue 186). He certainly has a spacious-enough – not to mention handsome – facility to accommodate much more, but seems intent on remaining in the modest 15-20 acre range, while also keeping very busy in his capacity as cellarmaster at Maison Camille Giroud (for more, consult my reports under that heading). Croix did not begin harvesting 2008s (his first crop grown entirely organically, incidentally) until September 29, continuing for ten days, and taking it on the chin as far as yields were concerned. “Nature dictated a small crop,” he relates, but the absence of warmth or sunshine prompted him to cut it back further. “I finished green-harvesting on a Friday;” he continues, “and on Saturday hail hit” many of his vines in Beaune and Savigny. ‘Then there was the concentration of berries by wind, plus the triage of unhealthy grapes.” With one exception, the 2008s had been bottled for a month when I tasted them in April. A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet (various importers); fax 011-333-80-24-29-70