2009 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

Like a number of his neighbors in Chassagne-Montrachet, Jean-Pierre Cournut is convinced that 2009 will be superb for red wine ("like 2005"); he's a little less quick to venture a judgment on the whites, but he says that the wines taste very good now. Cournut now does little or no batonnage-"just during the sugar fermentation." He told me he stopped stirring the lees with the 2008 vintage "to get fresher wines." The 2008s here are rich but lively; they typically convey an impression of sweet fruit but in fact they are extremely low in residual sugar. (Domaines et Saveurs/Jeanne-Marie de Champs; importers include Fine Vines, Melrose Park, IL; The Wine House Limited, San Francisco, CA; Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; and The Country Vintner, Oilville, VA)