Chablis 2012: Energy, Power and ClassI was
deeply impressed with the 2012s I tasted in Chablis during my annual trip to
the region this past June. The 2012s bring together high levels of ripeness (by
Chablis standards) with equally bright, vibrant acidities, a combination that
is dazzling. Today, I see 2012 as a more
powerful if slightly less polished version of 2010. The wines are also less classically
austere and tightly wound than the 2010s, and will likely drink better earlier
because of their richness. At the Petit Chablis and Chablis level, the
2012s are unusually generous and pliant, not a bad thing for wines meant to be enjoyed
upon release. Overall, the 2012s are a big step up from the 2011s in terms of
overall quality and consistency. The finest
examples are drop-dead gorgeous.

The 2012 Growing Season

Mother Nature threw the book at
growers in 2012. The spring brought with it a devastating frost that was
particularly punishing to early-flowering sites on the Right Bank, where all of
the Grand Crus are located. Losses of 30-40% were not uncommon in many of the
top 1er and Grand Cru vineyards. Yields were much closer to normal on the Left
Bank.

Poor weather drew out the flowering
to several weeks and also reduced potential yields even further. Heat, and dry
conditions in particular, returned with a vengeance later in the summer,
especially in August. Some growers reported burned fruit that required sorting,
others described the grapes as thick-skinned with little juice. The harvest
took place towards the end of September, pretty close to the norm, and a good
few weeks later than 2011. Several growers reported very slow fermentations,
especially malolactic fermentations. As a result, a few 2012s were still quite raw
and less polished from barrel than they typically are.

The 2011s From Bottle

The 2011s I tasted from bottle
largely confirmed my impressions from last year.&nbsp; With a few exceptions, 2011 is an early
drinking vintage.&nbsp; For more on the
growing season and the qualities of the wines, readers may want to re-visit my <a target="_blank" href="http://vinousmedia.com/articles/chablis-2011-and-2010-aug-2012">vintage summary</a> from last year,
all of which holds true today. In short, 2011 is a wildly inconsistent year
that will require a great deal of selectivity. Specifically, the green, vegetal
notes that were present in some wines have only become more pronounced with the
passage of time. &nbsp;Another very obvious
attribute of the vintage is that at many addresses, the Grand Crus are a big
step up from the 1er Crus, something that is not at all the case in 2012, where
the qualitative separation between sites is more gradual. 

<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1377123320047-Chablis2+-+vinous.jpg"> Vineyards in Courgis

A Note on Drinking Windows

It’s hard to know what to do with
drinking windows when it comes to white Burgundy. To be sure, as a whole,
Chablis has been much less affected by premature oxidation than the Côte
de Beaune. DIAM corks are now standard at a large number of top-flight estates
in Chablis. Still, aging white Burgundy these days requires a strong stomach
and a lot of patience. As I have done for the last few years, I have provided
general indications as to when wines will be ready to drink. How long the wines
will drink well is much harder to estimate with any certainty.

These are some general guidelines: In
a warm vintage such as 2011, all but a handful of wines will drink well pretty
much upon release. In more powerful, structured and/or high acid years, Petit
Chablis and Chablis should be enjoyed with minimum cellaring, as the wines will
not improve materially in bottle, with the possible exception of top-flight
village-level Chablis. The 1er Crus should be given 4-5 years in bottle, while
in a perfect world the top 1er Crus and the Grand Crus shouldn’t be opened
until age ten or so. In a perfect world…

The Global Shortage of White Burgundy

The last four years have not been
kind to growers in Burgundy, especially in the Côte de Beaune. On average, it is
safe to say that production is down 30-40% for vintages 2010-2012, with losses
as great as 90% in some parts of Volnay in 2012. Put another way, that is
equivalent to growers having gotten the production of two vintages over three
years. &nbsp;That brings us to 2013, which has
been as traumatic or worse in many parts of France, including Burgundy.

The overwhelming majority of Burgundy’s
top domaines are family run businesses. I can’t possibly overestimate just how
dramatic the last four years have been to working-class families that are
struggling just to survive. That may seem hard to believe given the prices
Burgundy’s top wines command in the market, but most of that is captured by the
trade and not by producers, most of whose ex-cellar prices would shock readers
for their modesty.

That is a long preamble for the
current situation, in which we are about to see a massive lack of supply of
high-end white Burgundy that will last for at least several years. Most of that
void is going to be filled by Chablis, where weather has also presented its
share of challenges over the last few vintages, but nothing like we have seen
in the Côte
de Beaune.&nbsp;

My advice to Chablis lovers is
simple. If you see a wine you like, buy it. There are not going to be too many
second chances given the global shortage of fine white Burgundy we will soon witness.
This is especially true for the 2012s, the best of which are fabulous and will
be in the market when the lack of top-notch white Burgundy will be at its most
pronounced.

All of the wines in this article
were tasted in June 2013.

Cover: Domaine François
Raveneau

-- Antonio Galloni

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