2018 Chambertin Grand Cru

Christophe Perrot-Minot asks me what I think of his wines, as he customarily does every year since I began visiting over a decade ago. "Oh, they are probably the best that you have ever made," I answer and he knows that I genuinely mean it. Indeed, in 2018 I feel that Perrot-Minot has made the wines that he has long wanted to create and come close to, yet never in quite as accomplished fashion as these. "In 2018, a lot of parcels suffered hydric stress, especially at the end of rows," he told me, one of the few growers candid about the challenges of the growing season. "When I picked I decided to declassify parts of the vineyard that had suffered stress. For example, in Morey-Saint-Denis En La Rue de Vergy I de-selected all the vines close to the forest that did not reach phenolic ripeness. We picked from 5 until 16 September, around 50% to 60% de-stemmed in all the wines. The maximum alcohol this year is 13.5% in the Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze and the others are around 13%. Of course, there is no chaptalization."