2014 Chablis Vieilles Vignes

Didier Picq told me that 12 of his 14 hectares of vines were touched by hail or frost this spring, with about half of his vineyards unlikely to yield a crop in 2016. He noted that 1964 witnessed the last terrible frost in Chichée, "even damaging the masonry on our houses."

In 2015, in contrast, Picq's vineyards were untouched by hail and he harvested very ripe fruit quickly, between September 9 and 15. He noted that Vaucoupin and Vosgros were picked at the same time, even though Vosgros normally comes in a week later. Potential alcohol levels ranged from 12.5% to 13.8% and even the richest cuvées finished their alcoholic and malolactic fermentations by December, but the first racking was not done until February. Picq considers 2015 to be a unique vintage and believes that the wines will be easy to drink virtually upon release and will never really shut down. He told me he likes the zesty finishing bitterness of these wines, which he believes is produced by the vintage's combination of alcohol and minerality.

The 2014s, says Picq, possess "an extreme minerality." Chaptalization was necessary and acidity levels are brisk. Picq told me he has never made as many magnums as he did in 2014: between 250 and 600 of each cuvée, with many of them destined for his own cellar. That's the ultimate proof of his enthusiasm for the 2014 vintage.

Potential alcohol levels were in the high 12.5% to 12.9% range in 2014, said Didier Picq, and the sugar fermentations lingered until late March, finishing after the malos (a couple of village cuvees still had over three grams per liter of r.s. at the time of my visit). Acidity levels ranged from 4.1 to 4.8 grams per liter, "like 2008 and 2012," Picq told me, adding that crop levels were mostly generous in '14, and actually higher for the premier crus than for his village vines. All of the wines had been racked in March and were still on their fine lees. Picq believes that 2014 will be a long-aging vintage, and he intends to bottle a lot of magnums. He vinifies entirely with wild yeasts and eschews fining, clarifying his wines only with a light filtration. He has no oak in his cellar.