2012 Chablis Les Pargues

Like every estate, in 2013 Servin had to deal with a vintage in which acidities moved from too high to potentially too low within a very short time frame. Yields were down dramatically, about 40% across the board, although some sites, Montée de Tonnerre in particular, were hit even harder. According to Mark Cameron, Servin's estate manager, one of the keys of dealing with the vintage was taking only the best parts of the press, where the juice was the clearest, and discarding more of the lower parts of the tanks. Cameron adds that in his opinion, the left bank was more consistent than the right bank, where over ripeness was an issue in. My impression is that the 2013s at Servin are built for near and medium term drinking. The 2012s have pretty much confirmed my very positive impressions from last year.

Francois Servin picked during the first 13 days of October, bringing in very ripe grapes and adding some acidity to certain tanks."It has turned out to be a soft vintage, a bit fragile," he told me in early June."We didn't have dry rot but there was more noble rot than usual and we did more decanting of the must."Servin harvests all of his grand crus by hand, and about half of his premier cru vines that way.But he maintained that picking by machine brought less rot, as the vines are given a shake before the machine passes through them and the withered grapes fall off the vines.Machine picking also brings fewer underripe grapes, as they are tougher to pull off the vines.And of course picking by machine is faster, which could have provided a significant advantage as rot was spreading rapidly.Commercial director Marc Cameron described the estate's 2012s as having the structure of the 2010s but with more richness.Acidity levels in the finished '12s are in the healthy 4.3 to 4.4 grams-per-liter range.

Domaine Servin's 2012s are very strong across the board. The estate's fans can look forward to two wines from recently purchased sites in the 1er Crus Vaucoupin and Mont de Milieu, something you don't see everyday given the scarcity of land in Chablis. In speaking of the domaine's 2012s, estate manager Mark Cameron reported that skins were thick, but the August heat concentrated sugars, lowered acidity and also reduced potential yields. Yields were down about 20% across the board, mostly at the village and 1er Cru level. The domaine's 2011 are less consistent than the 2012s. A number of the wines are diluted, lack depth and are a bit green.

Francois Servin described his 2012 grapes as "a bit like the 2010s in their thick skins and concentrated juice."Alcohol levels were slightly high but pHs were good, and acidity levels were average but a bit better than those of 2011."The 2012s may have more texture than the 2010s," he added, "while the 2010s show more of a tropical fruit character."Servin did not chaptalize his crus in 2012 but did add a bit of sugar in 2011 due to the higher yields in the earlier year.He pointed out that he doesn't have much 41B rootstock, which is typically slower to ripen its fruit, and thus rarely needs to add much sugar. Also recommended:2012 Petit Chablis (85).