2013 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

Pillot had a "correct" crop in 2014, with yields generally a bit higher in Puligny-Montrachet, but he noted that the grapes did not have a lot of juice. And as he has been pulling leaves since 2007 in search of better ventilation of the fruit, he's also been getting thicker skins. Potential alcohol levels in 2014 were between 12.5% and 13% and Pillot told me that he only chaptalized those cuvées that began at less than 12.8%. He feels that his 2014s are very similar to his 2010s in their tautness and accurate terroir character. But he believes that his 2013s are fuller-bodied than his '14s after having gained in flesh during their last months of elevage; he also predicts that they will not shut down in bottle, as his gentle gravity bottling does not stress his wines.

"We started with very low pHs in 2013, and a lot of malic acidity," Jean-Marc Pillot told me at the end of May."After the malos, the wines are now a bit light in acidity."Pillot picked virtually all of his chardonnay between September 29 and October 3, before substantial rain began on the night of the 4th, beginning with grape sugars in the 12.6% range and chaptalizing, on average, to about 13.2%."If you had huge crop levels, you couldn't get the grapes ripe," he maintained, adding that he produced about 40 hectoliters per hectare, compared to barely 20 the previous year owing largely to widespread frost on May 17."The ripeness was delayed in 2012 and the wines retained good acidity," he said, "and there was no surmaturite."Incidentally, Pillot put his 2012s in stainless steel tanks in September of 2013 for the last seven months of their elevage.He reported that they had "eaten" all of their SO2 by December and thus he was worried about grand cru wines at other estates that were bottled in September."But 2012s that were harvested well and bottled late will be very good agers," he concluded.