2015 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru (M)

As is his usual practice, Henri Boillot harvested very early in 2015, beginning on August 25 and picking only during the morning hours "to retain freshness." He considers the vintage "classic and not atypical," noting that the growing season featured less extreme heat and fewer sunburned grapes than either 2009 or 2005. "And the rains were perfectly timed," he added. Yields for his premier crus were generally in the 38 to 40 hectoliters-per-hectare range and potential alcohol levels were between 12.5% and 12.8%, with Boillot chaptalizing most of his wines to about 13%.

He crushed about half of his Chardonnay grapes and vinified whole clusters for the rest. "The élevage had to be cool and precise," Boillot explained, adding that 2015 "is not a fragile year for those who picked early." As it was also "a clean year," Boillot did virtually no settling of the must, bringing as many as 25 liters of lees into each 350-liter barrel. He kept his cellar cold during the winter and did no batonnage. The malolactic fermentations mostly took place in January and the wines had most recently been sulfited a month before my tasting here. Post-malo acidity levels were in the healthy 4.0 to 4.5 grams-per-liter range, which Boillot attributes partly to picking most of his Chardonnay before the hot winds from the south on the last weekend of August. Boillot uses 350-liter barrels for the overwhelming majority of his wines, about 50% of them new for his premier crus.