2012 Montrachet Grand Cru

According to enologist Eric Germain, the 2013s have been getting fresher with elevage."They began with a lot of malic acidity but the pHs now are still on the low side," he told me at the end of May.Some of the malos had not yet finished at the time of my visit.The chardonnay harvest here began on September 25, and the team attacked the pinot noir four days later, eventually picking until October 8.Grape sugars were mostly in the 12.2% to 12.8% range and most of the "lesser" wines were chaptalized a half-degree."But the grand crus that started at 12.8% will be bottled at only 13.1% or 13.2%," according to Germain, who added that several of the '13s finished with acidity levels close to five grams per liter.He stirred the lees just three or four times in all, preferring to roll the barrels "to keep the lees in reduction."Germain compared the best 2013 to the 2007s here but emphasized that today's wines are raised in less new oak than ever before:typically 15% for the premier crus for the first 12 months, at which point they go into older barrels.The 2012s here have turned out extremely well, but the 2013s may be even more exciting in the context of their trickier vintage.