2013 Meursault Luchets

Jean-Marc Roulot's holdings were hit hard by the June 28 hail in 2014, with his production for the vintage down 50% in volume and 60% in value, this following a 40% loss in volume in vintage 2013. He told me he lost 60% of his Meursault Le Porusot production during five minutes of hail on that dreaded Saturday afternoon. Roulot expressed the opinion that "2014 and 2013 are in the same style; both should be best for drinking within the first ten years." The pHs are a bit higher in 2014, he added, but acidity levels are still quite healthy at 4.2 to 5 grams per liter, and potential alcohol levels of 12% to 12.8% were similar to those of 2013. He asked me not to publish notes yet on the 2014s as these wines “are really only like children today.”

Roulot starts with a lot of lees but does not do any batonnage. He told me that he is now working "a bit more reductively," adding SO2 to the press and again at the end of the pressing. The 2013s here have turned out very well.

I tasted this year with assistant winemaker Eric Pignal, who told me that crop levels were off 40% from normal in 2013.But that actually represented an improvement over 2012, which was down by 60%, he added.Jean-Marc Roulot started harvesting on the early side in '13, on September 25, eliminating more oidium- and rot-affected than underripe grapes.The malos finished relatively early--mostly by the end of January--but the wines had been sulfured two or three weeks prior to my visit.Pignal told me that most of the finished 2012s here have solid acidity levels between 4 and 4.5 grams per liter but that the 2013s are even higher.I tasted a sampling of the 2013s, as Roulot is always reluctant to present his wines at such an early stage of their development.