2013 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Embrazées 1er Cru

Vincent Morey told me he made the permitted yields in 2014, except for the Batard-Montrachet. He began harvesting on September 15, bringing in his fruit with potential alcohol levels mostly between 12.5% and 12.8% and then chaptalizing moderately. Morey compared 2014 to 2002, saying that both vintages were saved by a good September. He noted that acidity levels in 2014 were lower across the board than in 2013: 4.0 to 4.3 grams per liters, compared to 4.7 to 4.8 in the earlier vintage. Morey stirred the lees of the '14s twice monthly until the end of the malolactic fermentations in March, but a bit later for the 2013s "as the wines were less round."

"Nineteen eighty-one was the last time we started harvesting in October," said Vincent Morey, who with one exception began picking in 2013 on October 3, just before a weekend of rain. Morey admitted to making the full allowable yields (53 hectoliters per hectare in the premier crus and 55 in village parcels). Potential alcohol levels were generally between 12% and 12.5% and, following chaptalization, the wines were at 13.2% to 13.7% when I tasted them from barrel at the beginning of June. Morey told me that they're a bit like the 2002s, "with ripeness coming from concentration, not sun. But they kept their freshness despite the conversion of the malic acidity. They're not fragile wines and they're not eating the sulfur quickly." Morey finds the 2012s heavier than the 2013s and believes that earlier vintage should be drunk first.