2009 Chevalier-Montrachet La Cabotte Grand Cru

According to winemaker Philippe Prost, the harvest at both Bouchard and William Fevre began on September 20. As in 2008, it was necessary to wait for "better ripeness and better site expression," he explained. At this early stage, Prost thought that Chablis had an edge, as there was a significant difference in quality on the Cote de Beaune between the Bouchard domain bottlings and those from purchased grapes and must, no doubt partly attributable to harvest dates. "But 2010 can be great for red wine," he added. Prost believes that 2008 is an outstanding "example of white Burgundy." The 2010s, he added, are a bit lower in malic acidity and have been open since the outset. The crop level was down an average of 30% from 2009. Prost rolls the barrels rather than stirring the lees, and the 2010s have remained cloudy, which he feels is a good thing.

"The balance of the 2009s has been a pleasant surprise," said winemaker Philippe Prost. "The wines were explosive in the beginning, but they had a green apple flavor and we were afraid of this because they don't have a lot of acidity. But during elevage, they have gotten better definition of flavor and there doesn't seem to be too much malic acidity." Prost noted that the fruit concentrated well in the last days before the harvest, gaining in minerality, and that Bouchard picked chardonnay before pinot noir because they were afraid of the acid level falling. Grape sugars therefore were not excessive, but they were higher than those of 2008 and 2007. No chaptalization was done for the grand crus or the Meursault premier crus. Prost went on to describe this vintage as offering "la beaute du diable": "The wines are flashy now, like lipstick, but what will happen after a few years? But, in fact, they are turning out to be more classic than we thought at the beginning." Prost did more batonnage in 2009 than in 2008, but he pointed out that he's more likely to roll the barrels than to stir the lees, as it's less oxidative.