2017 Meursault Village

Founded in 1731, Bouchard Père & Fils remains an important producer, alongside the likes of Drouhin and Louis Jadot. Winemaker Frédéric Weber mentions the misconception of Bouchard as a large négociant, when in fact it is smaller in size than others and a large proportion of their portfolio is from their own vineyards. In fact, Bouchard Père & Fils are the largest owners of vine in Meursault. Since Joseph Henriot acquired Bouchard in 2005, they have produced some excellent wines that have shone in blind tastings, a reminder that trendy artisan growers do not implicitly offer the finest wines.

“In general, it’s a good year for yield and quantity,” Weber told me. “It was cold in January. The temperature was below freezing for three weeks, and that was good for relieving disease pressure later in the season. So after that, the mildew pressure was low. It wasn’t a difficult year in the vineyard. The end of March was hot and the bud-break was quick, close to 2011. May was nice, with alternating rain and hot days. Flowering was at the end of May and finished on June 6 - quick and homogenous. The summer was generally hot with some periods of dryness, especially in Meursault and Volnay. There were storms, but not too violent, and with no hail problem for the first time in five years. We anticipated good yields in the vineyard. Choosing the date for the harvest was important. It was hot at the end of August and some berries were dry, but there was not full maturity because hot temperatures had stopped the evolution. On August 20, when I analyzed the grapes, I found 1.5gm/l more total acidity compared to 2015. It was important to wait. After 15 to 20mm of rain on September 1, the vines’ cycle restarted and the balance came back between high potential alcohol and acidity. But when I was in the Montrachet vineyard at the end of August, I saw so many people picking!”

“We started the harvest on September 4 with the Côte de Beaune Pinot Noir, the Chardonnay on September 8 and the Côte de Nuits September 12–20. It was a long harvest, as there were a lot of differences in maturity between appellations, though generally the grapes were in great condition. The yields are close to 2010 and 2011. The natural degree of alcohol for the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is between 13° and 14.5°, a high maturity level but balanced by the acidity. We conducted a five-day cold maceration, followed by 20 days’ cuvaison, but I reduced punching down the cap because the skins were quite thick and the quality of seed tannin was a little green. The malolactic fermentation came quickly and was finished by March. All the reds are in barrel. Most of the whites are in stainless steel tank. The balance really came for the whites during the ageing. I reduced the length of pressing and declassified all the last parts of the vin de presse to retain freshness and balance. The alcoholic fermentation started in tank at 17° to 18° Celsius maximum and after two weeks, I racked into barrel, where the fermentation finished. In 2017 I waited until the alcohol fermentation had completed before transferring into barrel.”

As I mentioned to Weber after the tasting, the 2017s from Bouchard Père & Fils do not seem to follow the pattern of vineyard status – i.e., some of the Grand Crus are surpassed by the Premier Crus. In a couple of cases, within one appellation I have a preference for their négociant cuvée instead of one from their own vineyard – for example, Clos de Bèze and Chapelle-Chambertin compared to the domaine-owned Chambertin. Perhaps it is one of the anomalies of the growing season. However, Bouchard’s 2017s are studded with excellence: a regal Le Corton, the consistently impressive Beaune Grèves Vignes de l’Enfant Jesus and Volnay Les Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot. Amongst the whites, Chevalier-Montrachet and Chevalier-Montrachet La Cabotte meet expectations and are always fascinating to juxtapose, and I often prefer this knightly pair over the Montrachet. Generally, Bouchard’s Meursault wines convey a little more charm than the Puligny-Montrachets. I do have reservations about some of the cuvées, though that applies to practically all producers with comprehensive portfolios; after all, you cannot excel in every single vineyard with such a wide range of holdings. Overall, these are well-crafted wines and many will give medium-term pleasure.

“For the first time in a while, we had a normal year,” said winemaker Frédéric Weber about 2017. “We had good yields everywhere, although not as much crop as in 2009. Three very cold weeks of winter were good for disease control and there wasn’t much mildew pressure in ’17, so it was an easy year. The flowering went quickly under good conditions at the end of May and the beginning of June. We had some hydric stress at the end of June but the season was fast and we had to work quickly in the vineyards. On August 20, we had the same potential alcohol levels as in 2015 but with 1.5 grams per liter higher acidity, so we had to wait for better maturity. Hot, sunny weather at the end of August resulted in some dried grapes and caused some fruit to lose acidity, but then a big rainfall at the end of the month restarted the vines. We saw a bit of dilution in Chardonnay but not in Pinot Noir because the stems were already brown and did not carry water."

Bouchard actually began harvesting on September 6 with Pinot Noir in Beaune and the bottom of Meursault Genevrières but brought in most of the rest of its Meursault vineyards, particularly those on heavier clay soil where acidity levels were high and sugars relatively low, between September 10 and 15. “The biggest challenge was to find the best picking dates; it was very stressful,” said Weber. “Sugars were ahead of skin ripeness but the grapes were protected by the tartaric acidity that came back after the end-of-August rain, which saved the harvest. And we also had perfect conditions during the harvest, with cool nights.” Potential alcohol levels were between 12.5% and 14% and Weber did not chaptalize. In the end, a number of wines finished between 13.5% and 14.5%. “The mostly natural yeasts that we use nowadays needed fewer grams of sugar in 2017 to make one degree of alcohol,” noted Weber, adding that he had no explanation for that phenomenon."

Weber does not believe that 2017 will be a vintage for long aging, for either whites or reds. “The Pinots are delicate, attractive wines but they’re lighter than the ’15 and ‘16s. And the whites are a bit too generous to be truly classical.” The alcoholic fermentations went easily and the malos started quickly, with most of them finishing in March. By the time of my visit at the end of May, Weber had already started racking his village wines to get them out of new oak, and he planned to finish racking most of them in July. Even the grand crus here are now aged in just 15% new oak (except for 20% for the Corton-Charlemagne).