2010 Puligny-Montrachet Village

According to winemaker Jerome Faure-Brac, the 2011 whites were radically different after the malolactic fermentations. Even though he did not stir the lees, he said, the wines showed more body and harmony following the malos and revealed much more character. Acidity levels are now generally in the healthy 4.2 to 4.3 grams-per-liter range, added Faure-Brac, although the Meursaults are more like 3.85 to 3.9. Due to coulure in Meursault, Drouhin's yields in this village are barely higher than those of the previous year. Faure-Brac compared 2011 to 2007, "but the new vintage has more body and is more harmonious." Drouhin's 2010s have turned out splendidly but I have omitted notes on the final three wines because they were still in tank at the time of my visit. The Corton-Charlemagne and Batard-Montrachet were about as strong as I suggested they would be in Issue 158, while the hugely rich, structured Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche, which remained on its lees until last December, had gained in complexity and harmoniousness while losing some of its more exotic aspects and appears to offer 94-96 potential.

This is a striking set of wines from Drouhin. Veronique Drouhin describes 2010 as a year with cool temperatures in July and August, but much better weather in September. As is the case throughout the region, I found the Pulignys especially ripe and exotic. I also tasted a range of the 2011s. Drouhin told me she thought the wines would need a little extra time in barrel to give them more body and volume.

In both Chablis and the Cote d'Or, the summer of 2010 was not hot, said Philippe Drouhin, and the plants did not lose their acidity. "We had a high percentage of malic acidity, similar to 2008, but the overall acid level was a bit lower in 2010. We started picking in Puligny-Montrachet several days after the rains on September 12. Those who did not spray late enough risked getting leaf damage, which would have led to slow, incomplete ripening," Drouhin added. "There's a botrytis element in some wines that gives an impression of ripeness even when it's not really there." A few of the 2010s I tasted at Drouhin at the beginning of June were just at the end of their malolactic fermentations.