2011 Chablis Butteaux Vieilles Vignes 1er Cru

Proprietor and Winemaker Guillaume Gicqueau-Michel describes 2012 as a long, stressful vintage, but one that produced classic wines. Frost was a big issue. Yields are down significantly, from -20% in Clos to -50% in Vaudesir and Grenouilles. The 2012 harvest started on September 28. As is the custom here, the wines were done entirely in steel, with ambient yeasts and no batonnage. Fermentations were lengthy and took 3 to 3.5 months to complete, although the malos started right after the alcoholic fermentations. In addition to these wines I also tasted the 2012 Les Clos, but it was very raw and therefore difficult to evaluate because of its protracted malolactic fermentation. In 2011, conditions were quite different. The plants responded to the stresses of 2010 by producing an ample crop. Harvest began on September 5. Overall, the 2011s are solid wines, but they are best enjoyed on the young side. A few of the 2011s show elements of dilution and/or greenness, but they are the minority. The 1er Crus were bottled in September and October 2012, while the Grand Crus were bottled in April 2013.

The pristine stainless steel-made wines of this important domain have improved dramatically over the past five or six years, coinciding with the switch to wild-yeast fermentations and the emergence of Jean-Loup Michel's nephew Guillaume Gicqueau-Michel as the new winemaker.In Guillaume's absence due to a trade event, I tasted with Jean-Loup, as I had done through the 1990s and early 2000s.He pointed out that the wild-yeast fermentations are longer, sometimes lasting until Christmas."For us, it's the equivalent of batonnage; it's like an elevage on the lees."Michel also told me that the estate is picking later these days than they did in the '90s."Previously my father often picked too early and yields were too high, as he did not remove the second-generation grapes."In fact, the 2012s and 2011s here struck me as quite pliant--a far cry from the austere and often metallic bottlings of years past.Michel considers 2012 "a good year, not atypical for Chablis."In comparison, he added, the 2011s have a bit more acidity and less alcohol, and are less concentrated:"They're for drinking on the young side." Also recommended:2011 Petit Chablis (86).

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.