2010 Bienvenue-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

The chardonnay in 2011 ripened more by concentration than by photosynthesis owing to hot weather in August, said winemaker Eric Remy."We were able to get good ripeness at modest sugar levels, generally between 11.7% and 12.7%," he said, adding that "the early picked stuff was chaptalized a bit."Domaine Leflaive harvested during the last seven days of August, finishing with the grand crus on the 30th and 31st.Yields were higher than usual, averaging 47 hectoliters per hectare, but the Batard and Chevalier were more like 35 to 37 owing to hail in July.The estate eliminated some dried grapes at harvest time, and acidity levels after the malolactic fermentations were between 4.7 and 5.2 grams per liter--one of the highest figures given to me during my tour of the Cote de Beaune this spring.A couple of the 2010s were still in tank at the end of May; I have included notes on these wines as they had not finished their malos when I originally tasted them in 2011.

Estate Manager Eric Remy has one of the sharpest memories of anyone I have ever met. His recall of specific dates and events is quite remarkable, so I will take advantage of that in reporting a very complete picture of the 2010 growing season. Accoring to Remy, in order to gain some insight on 2010, one has to start with the brutal frost of December 19, 2009, when temperatures dropped to a bone chilling -20C/-4F after having hovered around freezing for a few days prior. The very next day, temperatures shot up to 10C/50F. January was quite dry. A bit of snow fell in early February, but the rest of the month was dry. The last frosts at the domaine were recorded from March 10-14. The weather improved in April, especially towards the end of the month. May and June were cold. Flowering in the domine's vineyards started on June 5th and ended between June 20 and 22. The first part of July was hot but stable, while the second part of the month was cold and humid. Unstable conditions persisted throughout August. A hailstorm with heavy thunder in Santenay on September 12 was a sign harvest time was approaching. A bit of botrytis was recorded on September 17. The harvest started on September 20. Yields came in around 45 hectoliters per hectare, pretty much in line with 2009, the only domaine I visited where that is the case.

"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."