2011 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

"Very rich but not like the 2009s," said Philippe Colin about the young 2012s this spring."The '12s are more robust and masculine, with more nervosite but without austerity.But even if they're serious wines they will be approachable young due to their fruit."The hail did not have a big impact on ripeness, he went on, and he picked his parcels in their normal order, with potential alcohols in the healthy 12.5% to 13% range (most of the 2012s will be bottled around 13.5%).Colin continues to age his wines in about 25% new oak but now nearly half of his barrels are 450- and 500-liter foudres, which he believes results in earlier and better integration of oak.The malolactic fermentations had finished and the wines had been sulfited at least a month before my visit.Incidentally, Colin is now sealing half of his corks with beeswax and believes that this measure will result in "better regularity" from bottle to bottle.

Philippe Colin made what he described as round wines in 2011, bringing in fruit with healthy potential alcohol levels--from 12.5% to as high as 13.8% for his Chevalier-Montrachet--and chaptalizing the lighter cuvees to about 13%.He noted that there were not big differences in yields between 2011 and 2010.As is usually the case here, the malos finished early (in January and February).