2008 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

Consulting winemaker Nadine Gublin told me she did almost no stirring of the lees in 2009 as the fruit was already rich enough and acidity was low. She did very little debourbage, intentionally bringing a lot of lees into the barrel. My notes below are limited to those cuvees that had finished their malolactic fermentation by the time of my late May visit. The Prieur 2008s were even slower to complete their malos (I only offered a note on one wine in Issue 146) and late to be bottled as well. In fact, only three of them were finished by the end of May; the rest were slated for a late June bottling. The 2008s, said Gublin, were very aromatic from the outset owing to a surmaturite character that came from an element of noble rot. The wines are high in all the major technical components, with alcohol ranging from 13.5% to 14.5%, acidity in the 4.5 to 4.6 g/l range, and residual sugar between two and three grams in most wines. A few of them struck me as a bit extreme. (Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY) Also recommended: Meursault Clos de Mazeray (86).

Consulting winemaker Nadine Gublin underscored what a number of her colleagues elsewhere on the Cote de Beaune told me at the end of May: "In 2007 it was important to be patient, both in terms of harvest dates and aging the wines in barrel. The wines were severe at the beginning, and they needed a long time on the lees to get flavor and aromatic character." In 2008, Domaine Prieur started picking on September 28, beginning with pinot noir and then bringing in the chardonnay virtually in two days. "There was a lot of noble rot and the sugars were rising quickly," noted Gublin. "The fruit wasn't ripe on September 23, but sugars were very high by October 1, and in some cases too high." Only the Corton-Charlemagne had finished its malolactic fermentation at the time of my visit, so I will wait to taste the 2008s in finished form next year. However, my early look at the new collection suggests that the Meursault Charmes and Perrieres are particularly strong, and that the Beaune Champs-Pimont will be very successful too. Incidentally, Gublin credits chef de culture Daniel Gaudifroy for facilitating the estate's transition to organic viticulture (the estate's white wines have been organic since 2000), which she believes has improved the wines. "Our Chevalier-Montrachet used to be too facile and exotic," she told me, "but especially since 2002 it shows more precision and finesse."