2009 Beaune Les Teurons 1er Cru

Bouchard harvested on the early side in 2009, beginning on September 7 for pinot on the Cote de Beaune. And, as in 1999, said winemaker Philippe Prost, it wasn't the right approach to go for maximum extraction, "as one could easily accentuate the overripeness of the year." It was also important to drop crop at the beginning of August, he went on, "even if we weren't expecting a big crop then. That's because overcropped vines needed longer to ripen and lost acidity." Prost described the acidity levels of the Bouchard 2009s as "average." He told me that the early malolactic fermentations generally happened in wines from vineyards south of Beaune due to higher pHs, and that most of his malos finished in March or April. And he clearly prefers the Cote de Nuits in 2009. "I like their dark fruit expression, their energy, and their generally higher acidity. The wines from the Cote de Beaune haven't really grown during elevage like the 2005s did." He believes that the better 2009s are for long aging simply based on the strength of their phenolic material-"on the high maturity of the grapes without stress."