2012 Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots 1er Cru

While some of their negociant fruit came in early, Pascal Marchand waited until September 28 to harvest the estate vines in 2012. "At the end you could see a change in physiological ripeness," he explained. From literally months before the harvest, Marchand was shooting to pick his grand crus on the first Tuesday and Wednesday of October, which he told me were fruit days, and that's how it turned out. Potential alcohol levels were generally in the high 12.5% to 13% range, and most wines were lightly chaptalized at the very end "to prolong the fermentations and get more glycerol." Although a few of the late-picked cuvees show an almost roasted ripeness, many of them are splendid, and even the ripest wines are enlivened by the use of some whole clusters in the fermentation. For his part, Marchand believes that 2012s from vines picked too early betray a hint of greenness. And he is clearly a partisan of black fruits over red. (As he put it when we drove over to Domaine Maume to taste his first vintage there, "When I get black fruits I feel like it's an achievement.")As a general rule, Marchand does one punchdown and three pumpovers per day during the fermentation, and a full two weeks of post-fermentation maceration. "Two thousand twelve can be fantastic," he said. "The wines are concentrated, balanced and refined, with sexy soil tones and firm tannic structure." Most of the malos here finished in June or July but some wines had not yet been racked in November. (Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd, www.martinscottwines.com; Aliane Wines, www.alinethiebaut.com; Scott Levy Selections, Metairie, LA)