2010 Chablis Butteaux Vieilles Vignes 1er Cru

Guillaume Gicqueau-Michel describes 2011 as a synthesis of 2009 and 2010, with the fleshiness of the former and the tension of the latter. Yields came in around historical averages, as opposed to 2010, which was down 20% across the board. Michel planned to bottle his 2011 premier crus in October 2012 and the grand crus the following spring. I tasted all of the 2011s from tank. The 2011s were born with considerable flesh, and therefore saw much less time on their lees, with the exception of the grand crus. By comparison, the 2010s saw extremely long fermentations, partly because of the vintage and partly because of the estate's reliance on natural yeasts. Aging on the lees was on the longer side of things. Like all growers in Chablis in this vintage, Michel described the vintage as significantly influenced by a complicated flowering that lowered yields and produced a high incidence of shatter and shot grapes. The 2010 grand crus were bottled in mid-April 2012. I was surprised by how well the wines are drinking today.

Two thousand eleven is not a bad vintage but it's not special and quality is variable, says Guillaume Gicqueau-Michel, who has been in charge of winemaker here since 2007. "In style, the wines are between 2010 and 2009, and they lack a bit of tension." The Michel family began harvesting on September 5 and finished on the 15th, a picking period Gicqueau-Michel described as longer than usual. In spite of the fact that the wild yeast fermentations that Gicqueau-Michel has been doing since 2008 are generally longer, both the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations were finished by early January. Incidentally, now that the 2010s are in the bottle, Gicqueau-Michel describes the year as "a great vintage, rounder than the 2008s from the beginning, although the 2008s may have sharper focus." The 2011s were in tank at the beginning of June, and Gicqueau-Michel planned to bottle the premier crus in September and the grand crus next spring.

This is a gorgeous set of wines from Louis Michel. The estate farms 25 hectares of vineyards, most of which are premier cru. The wines are made with native yeasts (for both the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations) and are aged on their fine lees in stainless steel with one racking after the malos. Guillaume Gicqueau-Michel describes the 2010 vintage as a fairly easy one; once he got past an irregular flowering that lowered yields 15-30% across his family's parcels. Despite mixed weather during the harvest, the fruit achieved fairly homogenous maturity and was brought in over eight days starting on September 23 rd . Vintage 2009 presented more challenges as ripening was less even, which caused the harvest to spread out over thirteen days, quite long by this house's historical standards. The 2009 harvest started on September 15th . Overall the 2009s have lower acidities and more overt fleshiness while the 2010s will offer most of their pleasure over time. I tasted all of the 2010s from tank, except the Petit Chablis. The estate finished bottling its 2009s with the grand crus in May, 2011.

Guillaume Gicqueau-Michel, the nephew of Jean-Loup Michel who started vinifying here in 2007, stopped using commercial yeasts in 2008 with the objective of accentuating the estate''s various terroirs. In 2010, the fermentations (alcoholic and malolactic) took up to three months to finish, which Gicqueau-Michel said reduced the wines'' maturing time on the lees and allowed the domain to make fresh, light, precise wines. At the beginning, the 2010s reminded me of the 2008s, he told me. "But 2008 is more powerful, and their balance is perfect." Acidity levels after malo are in the 3.8 to 4.3 grams per liter range in 2010, noted Gicqueau-Michel, while in 2008 they are "4.2 and up." The estate does not do a tartaric stabilization, as the wines clarify on their own in Michel''s cold cellar. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)