1997 Corton-Bressandes Grand Cru

This estate did a five-to-six-day cold maceration following the '98 harvest, said Claude de Nicolay, then kept the fermentation temperature below 30oC. The post-fermentation maceration was kept cool and short, she added, because the tannins had a tendency to get dry quickly. Claude describes the vintage as "very Burgundian: the terroirs are easy to identify. The pickers eliminated about 10% rotten grapes in the vines. The wines are pure, the acids are sound, the tannins are moderately ripe, the wines were mostly chaptalized about one degree." The domain used no new barrels to age either the '98s or the '97s. I have provided '97 notes only for those cuvees I did not taste and report on in finished form last winter.

Claude de Nicolay did more destemming of the grapes than usual in 1997 two thirds, vs. a typical 50% in order to keep acidity levels from descending even further ("the stems eat acidity," says Claude), then retained only the first pressing. Fermentation temperature was kept below 29 degrees C to preserve freshness of fruit. This is likely to be a very open group of wines, like the '85s made here. In contrast, the '96s, with much lower pHs, were very slow to complete their malos (some cuvees took a full year to finish) and the bottling was not finished until October of '98. These are powerful, structured wines that will defy impatient drinkers.