2007 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Champeaux 1er Cru

x000D The excellent first set of wines from this small new negociant in 2007 were no fluke: Olivier Bernstein's 2008s are even better despite the tricky vintage, thanks to much greater control over viticulture and vinification. Because he was in a position to control the vineyard work (he did the green harvesting himself), he vinified a number of his 2008s with 50% whole clusters. He sorted in the vineyard and twice in the winery, eventually eliminating about 40% of the fruit. "There was almost no rot; it was just a question of ripeness," he told me, adding that his '08s range up to 13.3% alcohol, with no chaptalization. And he also vinified the 2008s in better conditions, in his own small facility in Gevrey-Chambertin. Bernstein is convinced that even in a difficult economic environment, there is still a market for premium-priced "no-compromise" wines like his; in November he told me that all of his 2008s were already sold (he bottled 33 barrels of 2007 wine and will have 50 of 2008). He is also among those who say that 2008 is a great vintage, with a great capacity for aging, but added that, in his experience, "the number of producers who made truly outstanding wines is relatively small." (A Becky Wasserman selection)

This tiny new negociant operation is the project of Olivier Bernstein, who also has a venture in Roussillon. He buys mostly fruit from vines at least 40 years of age (a few parcels are as old as 70 to 80) and pays by surface area, which enables him to prune the vines short from the beginning, and to carry out a green harvest later on using his own team-not to mention his strict selection of the fruit on a sorting table. Production was in the range of 30 to 35 hectoliters per hectare in 2007, he told me, and he will bottle barely 31 barrels of wine after selling off 14 barrels. Bernstein destems but does not crush his fruit and following a cold soak lasting a week or so (and up to 10 days in 2008) keeps the fermentation temperature from exceeding 30oC. His various cuvees in 2007 began with potential alcohol between 12.8% and 13.7%, he told me, and no chaptalization was done. Bernstein ages his wines in all-new oak. With the 2008 crop, he uses only barrels made by the tonnelier Stephan Chassin from Jupille oak, the same barrels used to such stunning effect by Mounir Saouma (Lucien Le Moine); in 2007 he mixed in some barriques from a blend of forests. The '07 premier crus were racked in June, but the grand crus had not been racked as of early November. My first look at Bernstein's wines suggests that they have the old-viney depth of flavor and texture to support their new wood. (A Becky Wasserman selection)