Woodsy forest floor and cedar notes mingle with ripe blackberry on the nose and sumptuously rich palate of a Drouhin 2008 Corton Bressandes that reflects the grand cru status of this site, as too many wines of Corton fail to. Pungent spices and blond tobacco tinge liqueur-like black fruits in a finish of impressive length. This boasts a fine suffusion of tannin and I expect will merit 12-15 years of attention. “2008 was very slow in doing its malolactic – which was good, and ended up with a pretty lively impression of acidity” remarked Veronique Boss-Drouhin, “and I think the wines will be slow to evolve in bottle, as well.” Numerous cuvees were still in tank or barrel when I visited in March, which constitutes an unusually late schedule at this address. The 2007s, by contrast, were bottled even earlier than normal, most at age 12 months. In 2008, a 15-25% share of stems and whole clusters was included in the fermenting vat for the Clos des Mouches and for most of the Drouhin grand crus, whereas in 2007 that degree of vendange entier was practically the rule across the entire Drouhin range (by no means all of which I tasted). Importer: Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818-0770