2007 Côte de Nuits-Villages

As most of the 2008 malos didn't end here until September, Denis Bachelet warned that his wines were "not yet in the full maturity of their elevage and really need another two months. It really takes until four or five months after the malos to reveal the pleasure of the wines." I had another appointment that morning so I couldn't wait the requisite four months, but the wines showed considerable promise. Bachelet told me he harvested with potential alcohols in the 12% to 12.5% range. He always eliminates a portion of underripe grapes "as the selection massale always gives a range of ripeness." Bachelet also noted that in the past few years, he's pressing more quickly after the end of the fermentation in order to get suppler tannins, and this approach clearly was constructive in 2008. As to the potential longevity of the new crop of wines? "Certainly at least a mid-term ager," said Bachelet. The wines had not yet been racked at the time of my visit, but Bachelet had added three tiny doses of SO2 along the way. (A Becky Wasserman selection; importers include Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd., Lake Success, NY and Wines Unlimited, New Orleans, LA)

Bachelet made his normal yields of 40 to 45 hectoliters per hectare in 2007, as the old vines here are very consistent. He leaves eight to ten clusters in the spring because he doesn't want too much energy to go into the remaining fruit if the summer is rainy. At the time of the green harvest he reduces the crop to seven or eight bunches, but because he is more interested in aerating the clusters, he tends not to eliminate fruit on his old vines when the grapes are small, as they were in 2007. Bachelet describes 2004 and 2005 as more masculine vintages, while 2006, 2007 and 2008 are easier-to-understand vins de plaisir. "It was critical to be rigorous with treatments in 2007 as well as 2008 to protect the foliage," he told me, adding that the bio people had a lot of problems with mildew. Bachelet typically carries out a long debourbage and starts with a relatively small quantity of lees; he protects his wines by keeping a lot of gas straight through to the end of the elevage. (A Becky Wasserman selection; importers include Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd., Lake Success, NY; Wines Unlimited, New Orleans, LA; and Vinalia Imports, Camarillo, CA)