2012 Puligny-Montrachet Village

Marc and Alexandre Bachelet made an immediate splash with their first set of white Burgundies back in vintage 2005, and they have steadily refined their techniques since then.They stopped stirring the lees several years ago and have been gradually cutting back on their use of new oak.They're also picking sooner, having been happy with the decision to harvest earlier in 2009.And today they're more relaxed about bottling:the 2012s weren't finished until April of this year, after spending seven months in stainless steel tanks.According to Alexandre Bachelet, the brothers started harvesting on September 25 in 2013, with the fruit coming in with potential alcohol of 11.8% and up; all of the wines were chaptalized.They pressed strongly in 2013, as there was no rot, according to Alexandre.Note that a few 2013s had not yet finished their malolactic fermentations at the time of my annual visit.

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.