2014 Montrachet Grand Cru

Richard Fontaine told me he made much less wine in 2014 than in 2013, and that the fruit was higher in sugar (12.5% to 13%, vs. 11.8% to 12% in '13). "The 2014s are fleshier and fatter but have less finesse," he told me. "We had thick grape skins in 2014s and the fruit concentrated in the last days before the harvest due to loss of juice." Production levels for the grand crus were in the range of 40 to 45 hectoliters per hectare. Most of the 2014 crus are aging in one-third new oak (I tasted samples from one-year-old barrels) and the wines were slated to be racked in mid-June. The 2013s, Fontaine added, show "lovely phenolic maturity at lower alcohol levels."