2005 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

Michel Niellon wasn't happy about the slow pace of the malolactic fermentations, as he generally prefers to sulfur his wines in the spring and start preparing them for an early bottling.Many of his wines in old barrels and in enamel-lined stainless steel tanks had not yet finished their secondary fermentations and he was in the process of heating his cellar to get them to finish.(The tanks-or "cisterns," as he calls them-hold about six barrels' worth of wine and are used to age about 50% of his larger cuvees, according to Niellon.)Niellon maintained that 2005 resembles 2004 in acidity.Never one to get too worked up about a new vintage, he described the 2005s as "fruity, with good material and a normal yield."I limit my notes below to samples that had finished their malos.