2008 Blanc Maranges La Fussières 1er Cru

Alexandre Bachelet describes 2009 as a ripe vintage with good acidity, a bit like 2006. "The wines were too rich at the beginning, but now they're fresher," he said, adding that he and brother Marc did not start harvesting especially early. The fermentations were rather long but the wines finished nicely dry, in the range of one gram per liter of residual sugar. I was impressed by the estate's 2008s, which were bottled in April of this year due in part to late malolactic fermentations. (Vintage '59 Imports, Washington, D.C; Ruby Wines, Avon, MA )

This estate brought in a very small crop of chardonnay grapes in 2008. "We waited a long time and lost a lot of crop to the wind," said Alexandre Bachelet. Compared to 2007, the chardonnay has more material and volume, he went on. "The 2007s are tight and rather strict but very elegant," he said, adding that he and brother Marc did a lot of batonnage until Christmas. "We thought there was a bit of a hole in the middle at the start, but the wines filled in with elevage." The 2008s featured very long alcoholic fermentations that lasted until mid-November, and, noted Marc, "the aromatic complexity arrived quickly, even before the malolactic fermentations." The brothers are aging their '08s with a relatively small quantity of their lees, as they felt the wines were already phenolic enough. As most of these wines were still in full malo at the time of my visit, I have offered just a couple of notes below. (Vintage '59 Imports, Washington, D.C; Ruby Wines, Avon, MA )