2011 Chassagne-Montrachet Village

Brothers Marc and Alexandre Bachelet described their "steady shift toward more energetic wines and earlier picking" on my most recent visit at the end of May. Marc credits their early picking in 2009 for the fruity, floral wines they made that vintage, and they harvested very early in 2011. In 2012, the premier cru vineyards here were affected by hail at the beginning of August in 2012, noted Alexandre, but it was really the problematic flowering that resulted in a tiny crop. Thick skins and a lot of dry extract yielded very dense wines, added Marc, and acidity levels were healthy, as they were in 2011. Still, I marginally preferred the 2011s here for their elegance.

Following the superb 2010 vintage here, brothers Marc and Alexandre were still trying to figure out the 2011s. They picked the chardonnay in four days flat, beginning on August 31, and describe the wines as "a bit skinny, with potential alcohols in the 12.4% range." Following moderate chaptalization, the village wines will be around 13% and the premier crus 13.4%. With thick skins in 2011, yields were only about 5% to 10% higher than those of the previous year. Interestingly, Marc noted that the 2011s have higher acidity than the 2010s. "At this point, they're almost more concentrated too," he explained. "The 2010s are more subtle and typical; 2011 is powerful." The brothers begin with most of the bourbes (they estimate that they bring about five liters of lees into the barrels) but have not practiced batonnage after the alcoholic fermentation since the 2007 vintage.