2009 Puligny-Montrachet Clavoillon 1er Cru

"We worried about mildew in 2010, especially in our younger vines," said winemaker Eric Remy, "but the material was healthy at the harvest, with the exception of some young vines in Santenay, which suffered from the storm on September 12. We started picking on September 17, and since the showers had caused the botrytis to advance, we picked quickly, in seven days." Remy noted that the 2010s began with a bit less malic acidity than the 2008s and finished their fermentations with less than one gram per liter of residual sugar. Thus they display less sucrosite than the 2008s, he added. A few of the 2010s were in the middle of their malos at the end of May and were impossible to assess. "The 2010s will age on their concentration of material rather than on their alcoholic degrees," Remy told me. He feels that 2009 is a very good vintage that will be attractive to drink young but is unlikely to last as long as the 2008s. "We lacked cool nights in August, but this was partly compensated for by the mineral energy of the wines."

Domaine Leflaive is one of the pioneers in biodynamic viticulture in Burgundy. The first experiments began in 1990 and by 1997 all of the vineyards had been converted to biodynamic farming. Winemaker Eric Remy describes the 2009 growing season in considerable detail. The winter was long but mild. The last frost occurred on March 23. Temperatures were normal until the last week of the month, when the weather turned warmer. Flowering began on May 22. The rest of the spring and summer were warm, while a big storm in mid-July dropped 8cm of rain. The rest of the summer was quite warm. The harvest began on September 5, about ten days earlier than normal. Average yields were around 45 hectoliters per hectare. The wines were aged for 12 months in oak followed by 6-8 months in steel. New oak ranged from 10% for the Bourgogne, 15% for the villages, 20% for the premier crus and 25% for the grand crus. The 2009s were bottled between April and June 2011.

Cellarmaster Eric Remy told me that 2009 was an easy vintage "so we could work on the 2008s," which were a lot trickier here. As readers may recall, I was not able to taste a few '08s last spring because they were in the middle of their malolactic fermentations, and the grand crus had not yet started. A year later, only the Meursault was in bottle and the rest were still limping to a conclusion. Most troublesome were the Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes and the Montrachet, which were still in the early stages of their malos. Though rich in material, both were dominated by oxidative aromas and were impossible to judge. Current plans were to bottle these wines in November, but Remy admitted to being worried about these two cuvees. "A vintage of patience," he summarized, optimistically. As to 2009, Leflaive harvested its chardonnay between September 5 and 11, bringing in fruit with potential alcohol between 13% and 14%. The crop was generally full, except for the Clavoillon and Pucelles, which yielded 41 and 40 hectoliters per hectare, respectively. Remy did no chaptalization or acidification as he "wanted to keep the year's style." Just one or two people were needed on each side of the sorting table in 2009, he told me, compared to six in 2008. Happily, the malos this time were finished by May. Incidentally, the average percentage of new oak used here is now down to 25% for the grand crus, 20% for the premier crus and 15% for the village wines.