2017 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

I have followed Domaine de la Vougeraie, based in Prémeaux-Prissey, since its inception in 1999, when Jean-Claude Boisset congregated the vineyard holdings of négociant companies. I remember their debut tasting in London, and to be honest, I found initial vintages under winemaker Pascal Marchand to be too oaky for my liking. Matters changed with the assiduous appointment of Pierre Vincent, a winemaker who dialed everything back and took an enviable portfolio of holdings to greater heights. Vincent departed to join Domaine Leflaive in 2016, a potential setback for a producer with such a wide and demanding portfolio. Current winemaker François Lécaillon escorted me through the 2017s together with general director Sylvie Poillot. “We started the picking on August 28 with the Vougeot Clos Blanc,” he explained. “Then we picked the younger vines of Haute-Côtes de Nuits, followed by the Côte de Beaune and then Côte de Nuits. We finished on September 18, around three weeks later, with the parcels in Brochon. The flowering went very well and we found good balance and maturity in the grapes, though it was dry at the end of the season and there was a bit of hydric stress. The yields are lower in the Côte de Nuits than the Côte de Beaune, from 28hl/ha to a maximum of 36hl/ha. The pH was around 3.30 for the whites and around 3.45 for the reds, but the total acidity is good and alcohol levels come in between 12.6° and 13.2°.” The headline for the 2017 vintage is the diminishing use of oak, almost dichotomous to those produced under Marchand. Even in 2010, the top wines were still being matured in around 80% new oak. “There is less oak for the red and whites,” Lécaillon said. “For example, there is only 25% new oak for the Grand Crus. I felt the oak was a little too strong, especially for the whites. We also do a little less pigeage, just twice, occasionally three times for some vineyards. We maintain a temperature of around 26° Celsius for the fermentation.” Armed with such an impressive array of holdings, there are inevitable gems to be found, and 2017 is no different. Perhaps mirroring the Côte d'Or as a whole, I lean towards the whites over the reds. The Bienvenue-Bâtard-Montrachet is top-drawer, likewise their Charlemagne and Vougeot Clos Blanc. I found the reds a little more hit-and-miss. There are fewer standouts here, although the Bonnes-Mares gives the Musigny a run for its money. The Charmes-Chambertin les Mazoyères ticks all the right boxes, but at the lower rungs of the hierarchy, the wines just lack the star quality of the excellent 2015s or 2016s. There are still some great 2017s from Vougeraie, and I still consider it to be a source of excellent, often extremely well-priced Burgundy.