2017 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

As we tasted through his 2017s from barrel at the beginning of June, Jean-Pierre Cournut told me that the wines “taste almost too good,” adding that “the malos were early and that may explain it.” The top wines here indeed stood out for their strong material and high quality but a few of them were reduced, and the Chassagne-Montrachet Clos du Château de la Maltroye was impossible to assess with confidence. Cournut began harvesting on September 1 and his crus came in with potential alcohol ranging from 12.5% (for the Chassagne-Montrachet Grandes Ruchottes) to 13.4% (Batard-Montrachet). Incidentally, Cournut makes extensive use of barrels from Tonnellerie du Val de Loire, as he believes that these containers “bring verve to the wines and respect their minerality.” At the time of my tasting, Cournut planned to rack his 2017s into stainless steel tanks in August and keep them there until he bottles them in late fall and winter.