2011 Gevrey-Chambertin Village

Christophe Perrot-Minot’s wines are always marked by volume and intensity, although the style is a bit dialed back relative to a few years ago. The harvest started on September 1 and finished on the 9th. Perrot-Minot opted for 3-4 days of cold soak, followed by gentle extraction with more pumpovers than punchdowns. The malos were long, and did not start until the following March. Overall, the 2011s here are drop-dead gorgeous. They will appeal most to readers who enjoy textured, resonant Burgundies.

"The 2011s have classic acidity and tension," said Christophe Perrot-Minot. "They have a crunchy fruit character but there's also a roundness. In fact, they're a bit fatter and rounder than the more taut, intellectual 2010s, and they will be accessible earlier." Perrot-Minot carried out his normal extraction (three to seven punchdowns per cuvee and "a lot" of pumpovers) and noted that the 2011s are "deeper-colored by far than the 2010s." He does not allow fermentation temperatures to exceed 30 or 31 degrees C., explaining that "otherwise, you get monolithic wines." The estate-wide average yield was just 27 hectoliters per hectare in 2011, noted Perrot-Minot, compared to 24 in 2010 and just 18 in 2012. The malos here were late, with a majority ending in September, and none of the wines had been racked at the time of my November visit.