2009 Corton-Charlemagne Quintessence Grand Cru

"Fresh and invigorating, a bit like the 2000s in their energy," said Vincent Girardin about his 2010 whites. "Puligny-Montrachet was the best village, but only if you picked early, because these vines were very sensitive to rot," he added. Girardin has been steadily reducing his percentage of new oak in recent years; he has also been picking earlier, at lower levels of potential alcohol and with better acidity. The 2010s came in mostly in the 12.8% to 13% range and he did not chaptalize. He is also working more reductively, racking his new barrels protected from air, and not racking his old barrels until the assemblage. And he's doing a longer elevage these days: in fact, he had just finished bottling his '09s a few weeks before my visit. Girardin has bought an old Vaselin press, which he believes helps him preserve dry extract. He did a double pressing in 2010, then a 12-hour debourbage, so that he could start with all the fine lees. His hope is that this will allow him to bottle "juicy, less demonstrative wines that are more minerally and austere." (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)

Vincent Girardin is among the producers who have made the most dramatic changes in response to the issue of premature oxidation. Girardin has increased the amount of time his wines spend on their lees, has lowered new oak, has eliminated bâtonnage and has basically re-built his entire approach from the bottom up, which I have to say, is quite impressive. The 2009s were harvested beginning on September 15, with natural alcohols in the 12.5-13% range. The wines were bottled between mid-March and mid-May 2011. Today the 2009s are quite fresh and still showing some of the effects of their recent bottling. It is safe to say the wines Girardin is making today are quite different from those of the past.

Girardin began harvesting his chardonnay on September 5, then finished on the 20th with pinot noir. It was hot at the beginning of the period, but then the temperatures moderated about halfway through. Girardin was happy that the grand crus only reached 13.2% potential alcohol: he believes that high octane levels translate to wines with less energy and a greater risk of premature oxidation. He noted that the 2009s may need an earlier bottling-or at least less time in fut. Girardin was concerned about 2009s in other cellars that began with too-ripe fruit and were made with too little lees and too much new oak, noting that a number of 2000s fell into this category. He describes his young '09s as showing "good minerality and more floral than yellow fruit aromas-not exotic." Girardin told me he has been doing faster alcoholic fermentations since 2007 and that this is giving him purer wines. He crushed 100% of his grapes but did not do a debourbage. Girardin's advice on this vintage: "The 2009s can be drunk young, but wait for the 2007s." A number of the 2009s I sampled at the end of May were still a bit hazy following a recent sulfiting. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)