2013 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru

Fabien Moreau has taken these wines to ever-higher levels of precision in recent years by fine-tuning harvest dates, oak regimes and bottling times. The Moreaus started harvesting on September 15 in 2014, then decided that the early fruit was too high in acidity and not sufficiently ripe. They stopped for several days and then restarted on the 22nd following rain the previous day. This is an excellent vintage here, with the wines combining richness and firm structures for graceful development in bottle. The Moreaus also outperformed in 2013; although they started harvesting earlier than most of their neighbors (September 30), strict sorting of rotten grapes was essential. And as the botrytis was wet rather than dry, they benefited from harvesting by hand. This estate was certified as organic by Ecocert as of the 2013 vintage.

Moreau's 2013s are very pretty wines with considerable early appeal and less overall intensity than the 2012s. As was the case throughout the region, conditions were very challenging in 2013. April through June were very difficult, much as they were in 2012, with constant mildew and oidium pressure. The weather turned more favorable in July, with drier conditions. According to Moreau, one of the biggest events of 2013 vis-à-vis 2012 was the rains of September 22 and 23 in 2013. An outbreak of rot in the vineyards soon followed, but the fruit was not fully ripe, so Moreau elected to wait things out until September 30, when the first fruit came in. The estate carried out a total of 35 smaller picks as opposed to the more typical 25, but the harvest was packed into just 6 days rather than 8 or 9, which is the norm. I tasted all of the 2013s from tank, with the exception of the Vaudésir, which will be aged entirely in barrel. The Clos had not been racked yet, so readers should take the note on that wine only in general terms. I found some of the 2013s to be a bit raw at the time of these tastings, in late June 2014. That is not entirely surprising considering the harvest was late in 2013, and consequently malos were also late, leading to wines that were in some cases noticeably less formed than they usually are at this time of the year. The 2012s have pretty much turned out as I expected based on last year's tastings from barrel, which is to say the wines are terrific. Moreau's 2012s capture the essence of this important Chablis vintage as seen through a number of top sites and a house style that seeks to exalt richness. Bottling was done through January 2014, with the Grand Crus.

Fabien Moreau was enjoying a short weekend family vacation in Morocco on the weekend of my early-June visit so I tasted with paterfamilias Christian in the Moreaus' chilly barrel/tank room.The Moreaus waited until October 1 to start harvesting in '13, bringing in fruit with potential alcohol ranging from 12.7% up to 13.4% for some of the village grapes--a level Christian Moreau told me was similar to that of 2012.There was virtually no chaptalization in either vintage, he added.A good bit of sorting was needed in 2013--"for rot, but not for underripe grapes"--but the estate was still able to make about 15 hectoliters per hectare more wine from their crus than in 2012.The crop level in their village holding was much lower owing to millerandage.The 2013s showed well in early June, and the stylish 2012s, which nicely combine fresh fruit and minerality, are among the most successful wines of their vintage too.