2010 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

Michel Niellon told me the key to the vintage was choosing the right picking date, especially after a thunderstorm in Santenay on September 12 forced many growers to pick a few days earlier than they had originally expected. Yields are down 15-30%, depending on the appellation, mostly because of the irregular flowering. The domaine's parcels had a high percentage of coulure (shatter) and millerandage (shot berries). According to Niellon, it is the uneven size of the berries that marks the vintage, as the smaller berries gave concentration, while the larger berries contributed acidity. As was the case throughout the region, the malos were quite slow to develop, and a few of these wines were bottled a little later than usual, something that is now possible because of Niellon's huge warehouse facility in an industrial section of Chassagne a few kilometers from the old, historic part of the village. The 2010s were aged in barrel until just before the 2011 harvest, at which time Niellon bottled the Chassagne-Montrachet, Champ Gains, Vergers and Chaumées. The Clos St. Jean, Maltroie, Chevalier and Bâtard (which I did not taste) were bottled in October and November 2011.

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).