2014 Petit Chablis

According to commercial director Marc Cameron, this estate was able to pick slowly and precisely with no risk in 2014, beginning on September 15 and finishing two weeks later. Servin’s massalle vines, Cameron noted, ripen early, even ahead of the grand crus. Potential alcohol levels in 2014 were in the 12% to 12.5% range, and most wines were chaptalized about half a degree. The '14s finished with low residual sugar (between 0.8 and 1.5 grams per liter) and sound acidity in the 4.5 to 5.0 range, or about half a degree higher than the 2013s. Yields were as high as 60 hectoliters per hectare but the estate did not reach the official maximums in some crus. The malolactic fermentations were easy for a high-acid vintage, said Cameron, who considers the 2012s a bit better balanced than the ’14s at the grand cru level, because the earlier wines are not quite as ripe or high in alcohol. Like a number of his colleagues in Chablis, Cameron finds the 2013s better now that they're in bottle. “They’re even showing some minerality,” he said.