2013 Corton Grand Cru

According to Bertrand de Villaine, the 2013s were seductive in barrel but are now very tight and closed. "It's not at all an immediate vintage," he told me in November. "The wines did not like being bottled and they have shut down quickly. But they are concentrated and dense, because we had only half of a normal crop." De Villaine compared them to the estate's 1949s, which he said took 20 years to mature. Potential alcohol levels were in the 12.5% to 13% range and no chaptalization was necessary. The team vinified with an average of about 60% whole clusters.

This year I tasted with both Aubert de Villaine and his nephew, Bertrand, who continues to take on a more visible role at the domaine. When discussing the 2013s, Aubert de Villaine draws parallels with 1978 and 1979, two years that were also quite late. Conditions in 2013 were challenging, as they were everywhere. In 2012, Spring was quite damp, but 2013 was even moreso, with total rainfall of 350mm versus 250mm the year before. Cold and rain drew out the flowering, a good two weeks behind in 2012 and five weeks in 2011, and also created quite a bit of shatter. Summer was much more favorable, reaching high temperatures in July and August, which allowed the ripening to catch up a bit. A bout of rain in late September caused a bit of last minute angst, along with an onset on botrytis, so the Chardonnay was picked on October 2, a little earlier than would have been the case otherwise. Pinot in Corton came in on October 3, but rain on October 5 and 6 caused the crews to take a break until the next day. The rest of the Pinot was picked in pretty rapid succession, culminating with the Échézeaux, which came in on October 12. Between shatter in the spring and severe sorting at harvest, production is down nearly 50%. As is typically the case, the 2013s were fermented with a high percentage of whole clusters. Bertrand de Villaine added that new oak has come down for the Corton and is now 50%, while all the other wines continue to see 100% new barrels.

Cellarmaster Bernard Noblet presented the bottled 2012s prior to the 2013s from barrel, partly because the newer vintage was evolving slowly after very late malolactic fermentations that finished between July and September. While the 2013s are not as fruit-driven as the 2012s, they boasts superb concentration and structure in the context of their vintage. The team here picked very late (Montrachet on October 2 and the pinots between October 3 and 13) "to get more tannic material," noted Noblet, and the plan as of November was to bottle the '13s later than the '12s.