2013 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru (M)

Whether he's making a political statement or has just been unable to find fruit sources up to his quality standards--or both--Henri Boillot is no longer making wines from the village of Chassagne-Montrachet.But he still presents a vast range of white Burgundies at a consistently exciting quality level.Boillot believes the young 2013s have the same potential as the 2008s:"they have fat, energy and a fresh palette of aromas, with a lot of pear character, especially in the Pulignys.The grapes were pulpy, like they were in 2000.It's a classic vintage, and not to drink young.The 2012s are for drinking young."Boillot noted that the 2013s finished very low in sugar due to the high acidity, which gave energy to the yeasts and made for successful fermentations.Unlike in some past years, Boillot was not an early picker:he harvested entirely in early October.He told me that he eliminated at harvest-time the grapes that had been dried out by a heat spike in early July."Otherwise they would have given the wines a bitter taste."All of the malolactic fermentations were finished and the wines had been sulfited six weeks before I stopped by to taste.Boillot now works almost exclusively with 350-liter barrels.The 2013s will go into cuves before the harvest and be bottled by the end of the year.