The 2007 Savennieres Trie Speciale – representing a small cuvee from botrytis-affected or otherwise over-ripe fruit such as Baumard renders when the vintage strikes him as meriting it – smells distinctly and hauntingly of white truffle, narcissus, faded lily, quince, winter pear, and brown spices. Opulently rich, it preserves a cleansing, even downright refreshing acidity, with walnut oil piquancy, subtly peat-like smokiness, and wet stone adding further complexity to a persistent carpet of flowers and flow of fruits. There is some residual sugar here over and beyond the level of Baumard’s two other cuvees, but low-level and well-integrated enough for the wine to taste virtually dry; and the over-14% alcohol simply helps engender unctuousness without generating more than a hint of heat. What it lacks vis-a-vis the corresponding Clos du Papillon is that wine’s sense of clarity and lift. I would expect this to be worth following for at least the better part of a decade, although there is always the risk that its alcohol will catch up with it. I finally had the pleasure to taste personally with Florent Baumard (for more about whose domaine and methods, consult my report in issue 172) and found him a disarmingly astute critic of his own wines whose confidence I share that the best is yet to come from this vast and already justly renowned estate. I find a freedom from bitter or coarse elements and a clarity of flavors in the more recent wines that is welcome and which, when pressed, Florent Baumard suggests might in part be attributable to increasingly selective and watchful (though not necessarily gentler) pressing. The envelope-pushing here is evident in the quality of Baumard’s relatively high-volume sparking wines, rendered from blends unfamiliar outside of the Loire. The wines I tasted five years ago were good, but only modestly-recommendable (and I elected not to publish notes on them in issue 172). The lot numbers of Baumard non-vintage sparkling wines appear on the front label in very tiny, faint letters under the words “sparkling wine,” but cannot be read without good eyesight, and not if the bottle is wet! The Baumards’ “regular” bottling of Savennieres is from their Clos St. Yves vineyard between the Clos du Papillon and Roche aux Moines, and a fact of which I was not aware when I published my notes in issue 172 is that two different labels are used interchangeably, one of which indicates the vineyard name.Importer: Ex Cellars wine Agencies, Cambridge, MA; tel. (617) 876-5105

A special selection of grapes has given a fascinatingly exotic and rich wine that remains resolutely dry. The fruit flavor dominates now, showing pear, white peach, a touch of lime with pepper, all rolled into an opulent wine with acidity and spice. Worth aging. Screwcap.——R.V.(9/1/2009)—— 94