2014 Puligny-Montrachet Village

"Two thousand fourteen is very Burgundian in spirit, with all of its elements in harmony,” said winemaker Benoît Riffault about the Domaine Sauzet white wines. The crop level was average and acidity levels were in the sound 4 to 4.2 range, or roughly the same as the ‘13s here. When I asked Riffault to compare the ‘14s to the estate’s ‘12s, he noted that 2012 was a very small crop, also stressed by hail, “but without the same balance as 2014. The ‘12s are very strict, even tannic, and their austerity bodes well for the future. The 2014s have more generous fruit and a juicy character.” The finished ‘14s (the village wines were bottled in January and the crus in March) carry alcohol levels between 12.5% and 13.2%, with no chaptalization.

Riffault, who admitted that this estate had some problems with premature oxidation in vintages 2005 and 2006, told me he’s confident that “the great problem is behind us” as he struggled to extract the extra-thick, extra-long 25-by-49-millemeter corks of the 2014s. The estate has also been using wax seals for its grand cru bottles since vintage 2013.

Gérard Boudot describes 2014 as “a very homogeneous vintage that respected our terroirs. The wines will be rounder and more classic than the 2013s, which are more taut.” He went on: “The 2014s may be easier to drink early, especially the village wines, which are easy to understand.” Boudot harvested early in 2014, beginning on September 11, with grape sugars between 12.6% and 13%, and did “almost no chaptalization.” He also told me that he had done no lees stirring for the 2014s as of the end of May, and that he stirred the 2013s just once, after the malos ended in late spring. “We have less nitrogen in the bourbes today owing to our gentler presses, so the wine is less protected,” he explained.

Most of the 2014 malos were finished by February or March. The vintage, says Boudot, “is a good classic year, with good material and acid structure.” He generally produced 40 to 42 hectoliters per hectare, more than in the two previous vintages and similar to 2011. Boudot uses about 15% new oak for his village wines, 20% for his first few premier crus and 25% beginning with the Referts. The grand crus get 25% to 33% (but none for the Bienvenue-Batard-Montrachet), plus a lot of once-used barrels.

Boudot believes that the 2013s express themselves well with a double decanting a couple hours in advance. “This completely changes the wines,” he told me. He finds the ‘13s “very solid, almost rigid, and very stable in bottle. They have very good aging potential but that depends on the yields, which were very heterogeneous compared to 2014. There was strong mildew pressure at the flowering in 2013, and we lost a lot of crop.” Incidentally, Boudot recommends drinking his 2014s, 2012s and 2011s before his 2013s.