2018 Montrachet Grand Cru

Céline Fontaine is often one of the most candid winemakers to converse with, when discussing the subject of the previous vintage, not averse to pointing out the challenges and setbacks during the growing season, as well as the successes. “We were stressed in May," she began, cutting straight to the chase. "The temperature was minus two degrees so we had to light candles in the vineyard. Fortunately it was dry and windy. Flowering was beautiful and we had long bunches. After that, from June it became very hot and quite dry, so the growth of the vine quickened. We called the pickers and told them to plan to come earlier. We came back in July to prepare the bottling and I’m glad we did, as we could begin preparations for the harvest that commenced 29 August. It had been dry in Chassagne and there was less rainfall here than in Meursault, consequently higher plots suffered drought and a bit of hydric stress, but it was very localised, on younger vines and on shallow soils. You could see the leaves in say Clos Saint-Jean turning yellow in mid-August. [She shows me a photograph with furling brown leaves.] Fortunately most of our plots are old and coped well. We commenced the picking in Volnay Clos des Chênes and Les Caillerets, analysing the berries so we knew where to pick. The grapes were very healthy with concentrated juice and thick skins, a little like 2017. Our whites in 2018 were picked between 12.5% and 13.0%, whereas the year before it was 11.8% to 13.5%. We were not expecting so much juice, which I think is due to the long bunches and because in August, the nights were quite fresh and vines were still active. In the end the yield was like 2017, the smallest in La Romanée and Maltroye, most plots just over 50hl/ha. We picked quickly as the malic acid was decreasing rapidly. The reds were beautifully balanced with good acidity, with slightly more sugar than in 2017. The 2018 is more powerful in style compared to the 2017 with a lot of dry extract. We did a quicker remontage and less pigeage than usual, whilst the alcoholic fermentation took a bit longer to finish. To finish the sugar for the first time we did remontage with oxygen because it is more efficient doing it that way. By the end of September [2019] all the wines were in barrel with all the sugars finished, leaving the reds on the lees for one year and racked between September and October. The reds will be put in barrel at the end of January, whilst the whites were racked in early July. Something new is that we have prepared the wines by fining in tank rather than barrel, as we have a better level of dissolved oxygen, therefore the Premier Crus are not returned to barrel after racking. They were in tank until the end of August and then bottled. We hope to have a bigger cellar in the future and maybe we can then have a longer élevage. The crus are aged in around one-third new oak. In the past we sometimes had to add some CO2 during bottling, but this year we had no need." Fontaine-Gagnard is a domaine in transition from one generation to another. I will not go into details as they were off record, but that transition is not necessarily without resistance and struggle as the philosophies and modus operandi of one must make way for another. Certainly the techniques espoused by Céline Fontaine are ones I support and I feel would benefit the domaine, including what, in my opinion, would address some of the premature oxidation issues that have dogged previous vintages, such as browning the must before alcoholic fermentation. Also, it is clear that it is a crowded cellar, inhibiting a second winter in barrel. Construction is already underway for a more spacious cellar and though there are the usual delays, once this is installed and longer élevages become possible, we could see some really excellent wines. But even with just under 12 months in barrel, the 2018s provide some excellent wines from numerous Premier Crus around the appellation. Not every cuvée hits the bulls-eye to be frank, but when they do, their wines come recommended.