2009 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

The humid, showery September 12, which brought hail to parts of Santenay, also was responsible for taking the smaller 2010 grapes to very high levels of ripeness, said Michel Coutoux, who is Michel Niellon's son-in-law. "The grapes turned violet and surmuri, which made them quite delicate. We picked the grand crus on the first day, September 16th, and the Chassagnes beginning on the 18th. Partly due to millerandage and coulure, which yielded a mix of small and large grapes, Coutoux said that the ripeness was very uneven in 2010. "Some wines have the density and texture of 2008 but others don't." At Niellon's new facility on the outskirts of Chassagne-Montrachet, he can now bottle late if the vintage calls for it, and, indeed, Coutoux noted that the 2010s would probably be bottled in mid-autumnl (all the 2009s were in bottle prior to the 2010 harvest).

I tasted all of these wines with Michel Niellon in his huge warehouse facility just outside of Chassagne. The 2009s are made in a style that emphasizes freshness. Niellon thinks wines peak at 6-7 years after releases and he is clearly going for an accessible style. That said, I found of the wines all shows better with air, except for the Chevalier, which unfortunately remained stubborn throughout my visit. I hope to have a chance to retaste it in the future. The 2009s saw 25% new oak. The wines are racked in July, after the malos, and were bottled before the 2010 harvest. Niellon told me he might pursue longer elevage for some of his wines now that space is not a constraint.

Michel Niellon opened a spanking new facility outside Chassagne-Montrachet, behind the large cellars of Philippe Colin and Jean-Marc Pillot, in time to vinify the 2009 harvest. Readers may recall that I worried out loud last year that Niellon, who previously worked in very cramped cellars under his home, would have to rush his 2008s into bottle before the 2009 harvest, in spite of the fact that some of the malos did not finish until early summer. In the end, though, with the spacious new barrel cellar, he was able to bottle the late 2008s in October and November. I tasted this year with Niellon's son-in-law Michel Coutoux, who told me that "we were almost the first in the village to start picking in '09, on September 6," and that acidity levels in the grapes began to plunge not long afterwards. He described the wines as "fast and easy to make," but wondered if they were too good too soon. "Are they fresh enough?" he mused. The malos were finished by the end of the year, and thus very little batonnage was done. Coutoux describes 2008 as "fruity and sweet" and 2007 as "taut and vivid." (Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, New York, NY) Other wines tasted: Chassagne-Montrachet*.