2023 Meursault Les Chevalières

“A lot of older people said that they had never seen a vintage like 2024,” winemaker Etienne Chaix tells me. “We have half a crop in 2024, between 25 hl/ha and 30 hl/ha. In 2023 we had a much better volume, between 45 hl/ha and 48 hl/ha, a very good yield for the older vines. We had a beautiful spring with no frost and perfect weather during flowering. The summer was more complicated as there was some rain and hail on July 11 that affected some of the Bourgogne Rouge and Volnay Village. We lost a little volume and this meant we had to sort during harvest. There was a canicule in the second half of August, up to 36°C. It was beneficial in terms of grape maturity. We started picking on September 5, though it was complicated to choose the date because of the warmth, and finished on September 11 before the intense storm the following day. We picked in long sessions in the morning and shorter ones in the afternoon, making sure to keep the fruit cool at reception. Everything was destemmed, and the wines will be racked and filtered before bottling in December. In 2022 I felt Pommard was better, but maybe 2023 it is Volnay?”