2009 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

In 2010, Faiveley started harvesting chardonnay on the Cote de Beaune on September 16 with their Bienvenue-Batard-Montrachet. CEO/adviser Bernard Hervet describes 2010 as a moderately ripe year, "cool, fresh and high in acidity, without the depth of 2008 but better than 2007 and completely different from 2009. The 2009s show the primary aromas of ripe chardonnay in great terroir," he went on, "while the 2010s have a more northerly aspect. A lot of the wines are of the riesling type." Very few of the 2010s had finished their malos by the time of my visit; my notes are limited to those cuvees that were at least 90% done.

CEO/advisor Bernard Hervet was in no hurry to pick chardonnay in 2009, harvesting late and ripe: only his Meursault villages, Meursault Charmes and Batard-Montrachet were picked before September 12, with the bulk of the chardonnay coming in over the next four or five days. "Quantities were generous, as in 1999 and 1990, and the fruit was beautiful," he told me, adding that barely 1% of the grapes had to be eliminated on the sorting table. "I was more concerned about picking pinot noir early." He quoted Rolande Gadille, who wrote in the '60s on the subject of Burgundy's soils and vintages, that a great vintage "is a year where everything worked well: the flowering, the summer, the harvest." You need a great May and a great August to make a great vintage, Hervet added, including some 30oC days in May. In addition to making outstanding wines in Chablis, Faiveley is now a major player in Cote de Beaune white, following its acquisition of Domaine Monnot (brothers Marc and Alexandre Bachelet will continue to get a portion of this fruit under a long-term contract), and the signing of a 12-year agreement to get fruit from Domaine Matrot-Wittersheim (a property in Meursault owned by Thierry Matrot's aunt and her daughter).