2007 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

Winemaker Jacques Lardiere reported that the challenge during the 2007 growing season was the excessive vegetation in the vines due to the high water table. As in 2004, this producer declassified a good percentage of its wine to maintain quality. Most of the 2007s were blended in March and bottled in May, shortly before my visit. Even in the fresh 2007 vintage, Lardiere blocked a portion of the malolactic fermentations because he wanted to keep some malic acidity to balance the tartaric. But then he always retains some of the malic acidity to preserve freshness in his wines. (Lardiere was amazed that in the 2006 vintage-a year in which some very ripe and exotic wines were made-many growers actually de-acidified their wines before the bottling on the recommendations of their enologists.) As is his habit, Lardiere used a bit more new oak than usual in 2007 because he viewed it as a middling vintage.