2012 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

For the second straight year, winemaker Eric Remy told a tale of woe about heavy rainfall during the flowering--in this case, about two inches fell on June 19 and 20, just three days after the 2013 flowering started at Domaine Leflaive.(April and May had seen rain, chilly weather and even some flooding, and the season was already two or three weeks behind schedule.)The resulting coulure and millerandage cut potential crop levels and then the severe hailstorm of July 23 caused great damage from Meursault to Aloxe-Corton, though with very little impact farther south.August brought reasonably good summer conditions but the season was still late, and the domain starting harvesting on September 28, with the grapes "starting to turn, as in 2012 and 2006."But even after the necessary triage, Domaine Leflaive has produced an average of 40 hectoliters per hectare.Remy sulfited the must a bit more than usual due to the botrytis element but carried out his normal pressurage and used the same percentage of new oak as always.Although the Puligny-Montrachet Combettes fruit reached 13.6% natural alcohol, most of the estate's parcels were chaptalized around half a degree.Remy describes 2013 as "round on the attack, and less a vin de garde than 2012, 2011 and 2010, all of which were more cutting from the beginning."Long-time fans of Leflaive's wines may smell an opportunity for relatively early gratification here.On the other hand, the supernal 2012s will require patience.

The flowering in 2012 was stretched out by adverse climatic conditions from June 6 to June 25, noted winemaker Eric Remy, with 50 millimeters of rain falling on the 6th.There was substantial coulure and millerandage and mildew arrived quickly.Along with the effects of some frost in mid-April and then again in mid-May, plus hail on June 30 and August 1 and the loss of some grapes in a period of heat in early August, the domain-wide production here was just 23 hectoliters per hectare--or roughly half the level of the previous year."Rot was the only problem we didn't have in 2012," Remy concluded.The harvest took place between September 14 and 21, with grape sugars ranging from 12.5% to 13.3% for the crus and only a few cuvees requiring modest chaptalization.As to the wines themselves, Remy describes 2012 as "a hyper-classic vintage for aging.The wines really saturate the mouth, and elevage will bring more size and precision.The vintage favored well-drained hillside vineyards, where the soil warmed up faster between the rains."He compared the 2012s to the 2010s for their clarity and energy.Remy describes 2011 as "a very good vintage:we picked early in order to retain good sound acidity and good minerality."