2012 Meursault Les Grands Charrons

Like a majority of his colleagues on the Cote de Beaune, Jean-Marc Boillot feels that the 2013s will be for drinking "before the more concentrated 2012s," in spite of the fact that yields for chardonnay here were often quite low in 2013, ranging from "2011 levels to down 30% from normal."(Yields in 2012 were even lower:the estate average was an infinitesimal 12 hectoliters per hectare, according to Boillot.)He essentially began harvesting on September 29, bringing in fruit with around 12% potential alcohol, but noted that he picked his Champs-Canet on September 26 with a bit of noble rot.Boillot stirred the lees every seven to ten days through the end of the malolactic fermentations.

I generally like Yves Boyer's wines best when they're from cooler vintages that retain healthy acidity levels.So it was not surprising that the top 2013s here show enticing purity and definition.Boyer believes that they will age slowly and well.Boyer told me he likes the balance of the 2012s, which he says are already starting to open, but then added that he likes drinking his wines on the young side. (A Peter Vezan selection; importers include North Berkeley Imports, www.northberkeleyimports.com; Michael Skurnik Wines, www.skurnikwines.com, Vintner Select, www.vintnerselect.com and Dionysos Imports, www.dionysosimports.com)

"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.

Like so many of his colleagues on the Cote de Beaune, Dancer has struggled with low production levels in the past two years.He has the potential to produce 130 barrels of wine per year but made only 65 in 2013 and 35 in 2012.Dancer describes the young 2013s as "fresh, lemony and sappy but also round and not fragile--minerally wines of finesse."In comparison, the 2012s are about fruit concentration."They're more facile wines but they're not at all tiring and they have the density to age.But they may drink earlier than the 2013s."Dancer eschews sulfur additions during fermentation and elevage because he "doesn't want to kill the yeasts and bacteria with SO2."He told me he adds a bit of SO2 before carrying out a very natural bottling, without fining, filtration "or any chemical processes."Dancer has not chaptalized any of his wines since 2007.

"Good material, good balance and acidity; there's really nothing bad to say about 2012," said Yves Boyer."The worry is the small volume of wine."The Meursault Narvaux and the premier crus were the most affected by hail, added Boyer, who told me that crop levels were down as much as 60%.Boyer started harvesting on September 17 and lightly chaptalized his early cuvees. (A Peter Vezan selection; importers include North Berkeley Imports, www.northberkeleyimports.com; Michael Skurnik Wines, www.skurnikwines.com; Vintner Select, www.vintnerselect.com; and Dionysos Imports, www.dionysosimports.com)

Pillot, who believes that "premox is over," at least for him, told me that since 2005 he has changed everything."For starters, all elevage is now for 18 months, which helps to stabilize the wines," he told me at the end of May."And the wines are no longer 'too good young'."Pillot bottles with 35 to 40 ppm free sulfur, and 100 total, noting that his sulfur additions are mostly during the first months in tank, with less needed at the bottling stage.Following the "chiseled, diamond-like 2010s," Pillot feared that the 2011s would be too fat, but the last six months in cuve, he said, "gave tension to the wines, with the toasty vanilla side disappearing."Pillot describes the 2012s as "a very small and concentrated crop, with the vines producing just two or three bunches of grapes.They will be opulent wines."Most of the 2012s were chaptalized and acidity and pH levels are sound, he said, adding that "the thick skins saved the grapes from maladies, and there wasn't a lot of juice in the grapes."Pillot compared his 2012s to his 2009s, "but with more vivacity."