2006 Chassagne-Montrachet Village

"It was very complicated to decide on harvest dates in 2007," said Philippe Colin, who brought in chardonnay between September 2 and 11. (About 75% of his wine comes from domain vines, but Colin's team also does the vineyard work and harvests the parcels from which he purchases fruit.) He began with his Vergers, at 12.9% potential alcohol, but noted that his various cuvees ranged from 12% to as high as 13.5%. Colin told me he was surprised by the way the wines' acidity and emerging fat are marrying in barrel. Colin stirs the lees until the end of the malolactic fermentations but then stops. He harvested on the early side in 2006, a strategy that enabled him to make very nicely balanced wines. (Kermit Lynch, Berkeley, CA; Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, New York, NY; Robert Chadderdon Selections, New York, NY)

Philippe Colin was far from the only winemaker in Chassagne-Montrachet to tell me that the ripeness in his village in 2006 was less exaggerated than in Meursault. (Colin vinifies part of the family holdings and also buys some negociant fruit, mostly from members of his extended family.) A couple of his cuvees reached 13.7% alcohol, but the rest were in the 13% to 13.5% range, he told me, and no wines were acidified. "I don't look for surmaturite," he told me, adding that he prefers to keep his wines below 13.5% to avoid getting exotic flavors. Colin, who does systematic leaf-pulling, said that there were no rot problems in '06. He stirs the lees only until the end of the malolactic fermentations, which finished this year in January. On June 1, these wines were clear and easy to view. Incidentally, Colin told me that the U.S. was the #1 market for his wines, taking 30% of his production. (Kermit Lynch, Berkeley, CA; Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, New York, NY; Robert Chadderdon Selections, New York, NY)