2006 Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes

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)

Bachelet picked his fruit in 2006 with potential alcohol in the low 12% range, and chaptalized to about 13% to prolong the fermentations. "We need acidity here," he explained. "It's not California." Still, he told me, the sugars in some parcels in 2006 were at least as high as those of the previous year, when very dry conditions resulted in a blockage of maturity in some sites. The 2006 malos ended late (mostly in July and August), and yet the wines were easier to taste than the 2005s were a year ago. Bachelet's obsession with making wines with energy served him very well in 2005, as this looks to be an outstanding vintage here. For his part, Bachelet describes this set of wines as very closed and in need of long aging, but their high quality was clear in November. (A Becky Wasserman selection; importers include Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd., Lake Success, NY; Wines Unlimited, New Orleans, LA; and Vinalia Imports, Camarillo, CA)