2015 Meursault Les Grands Charrons

Jean-Marc Pillot’s 2015 crus were among the most minerally examples of their vintage that I tasted this spring—this in addition to their silky, rich textures. They’re about much more than simply varietal fruit. Pillot purchased a second press that enabled him to pick most of his Chardonnay in three days (September 3 through 5), with healthy acidity. Potential alcohol levels ranged from 12.8% to 13.2%, the alcoholic fermentations went quickly (all of the wines finished with under one gram of residual sugar), and the malos were finished by the end of January. The post-malo acidity levels range from 4.1 to 4.3 grams per liter, according to Pillot.

Pillot describes 2015 as a heatwave vintage but noted that the wines are opulent and tasty, with better acidity than the 2009s. With just a couple of exceptions, his maximum yield in 2015 for Chardonnay was a moderate 40 hectoliters per hectare. His top 2015s display the inner-mouth lift to support mid-term aging. For his part Pillot suggests starting to drink them in five years—before the 2014s.

Incidentally, Pillot told me that his Chassagne-Montrachet Les Vergers, Les Vergers Clos Saint Marc, Les Chenevottes, Les Macharelles and Les Champs-Gain were nearly entirely frosted in 2016 but that his Puligny vineyards suffered only minimal damage.

Jean-Baptiste Bouzereau, who took over winemaking here in 2000 after working with his father Michel for ten years, told me that this estate has crushed all its Chardonnay fruit since 1998. He began harvesting in 2015 on August 28 and finished on September 7, bringing in his grapes with potential alcohol between 12.5% and 13.1% and chaptalizing just 0.2 degree. Bouzereau describes the young 2015s as elegant wines, maintaining that the vines never really suffered and that there’s no sign of extreme heat in the wines. Yields, he added, were “normal”—i.e., in the 50 to 55 hectoliters-per-hectare range.

Bouzereau uses 20% new oak for his village Meursault and 25% for the rest of his wines, including some demi-muids for the Meursault Les Grands Charrons. The 2015 malolactic fermentations finished between mid-March and early May of this year and Bouzereau’s normal practice is to bottle the second December and January.

Incidentally, Bouzereau told me that his 2006s are better now than they were several years ago. Similarly, he said, the 2015s from calcaire soil will need some extra time in bottle.