2013 Chablis Forêts 1er Cru

Piuze harvested early in 2014, beginning on September 13, noting that "the backbone of Côte de Beaune whites is alcohol while in Chablis it's acidity. And I don't like crystallized fruit character." Grape sugars ranged from 11.8% to 12.2% and Piuze added barely 0.1% to 0.2% of sugar at the end of the very fast alcoholic fermentations just to prolong them a bit. (Fermentation temperatures here can mount to 26 or 27 degrees C, which is quite high for Chablis.) Acidity levels in the wine following the malolactic fermentations are in the healthy 4.5 g/l range. Piuze describes the '14s as "like a blend of 2012 and 2008." This ambitious négociant, who has handshake agreements with his suppliers, who are also shareholders in his business, now makes about 135,000 bottles of wine at his facility in Chablis, (including his Val de Mer label), as well as a lot of "non-dosage French bubbly."

Early harvesting helped in 2013, noted Piuze, as the juice prior to the October rain was cleaner. He did a longer debourbage, taking smaller quantities of lees into the barrels, and also bottled earlier. Still, he told me, 2013 is missing the "shooting stars" of Chablis.

This is a solid set of 2013s from Patrick Piuze, although the wines are a bit inconsistent throughout the range. Many of the 2013s are unusually overt and tropical, with mid-weight structures that appear best suited to near-term drinking. Of course, tastings from barrel aren't always representative. In more than one instance I thought the wines were a bit low in sulfur, which can give an impression of flabbiness. Piuze bottled his 2013 village-level wines early as he did not think they had the structure to support longer time in barrel, which appears to have been a good decision. It will be interesting to see how the 2013 1er and Grand Crus turn out once they have been bottled. Personally, I find the 2012s quite a bit more exciting.

Patrick Piuze, whose winemaking resume includes stints in Chablis with Olivier Leflaive, Jean-Marie Guffens and Domaine Brocard, embarked on his own venture in vintage 2008, coming out with no fewer than 20 wines from that vintage.He buys only grapes (no must or wine), mostly from old vineyards, and makes his wines primarily in stainless steel tanks, then ages them in old barrels in order to preserve their terroir character.His objective is to craft wines "with no make-up."Beginning with the 2011 vintage and especially with the 2012s, he changed back to a Vaselin press, and carries out a soft, slow pressurage that he says allows him to make wines with more dry extract.Incidentally, Piuze only uses old barrels from high-acid vintages like 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2008; he noted that 2005 barrels are "too apricotty to give life to the wines."Piuze picked early in 2013--from September 28 through October 5--"to maintain acidity and white fruit character."The crus came in with potential alcohol between 12.2% and 12.5% (the village parcels between 11.7% and 12.1%) and Piuze chaptalized lightly--in the case of Les Clos and Montee de Tonnerre, just to extend their fermentations.None of the 2013s will go into bottle with more than 12.6% alcohol.Piuze describes 2012 as "a great vintage, with the same acidity and pH as 2008 but better balance.The wines have more buffering texture but they're also razor-sharp," he said, adding, "it will be a long-aging vintage."He's less high on the 2010s, as the grape skins were not as healthy. (DNS Wines, www.dnswines.com; David Bowler Wine, www.bowlerwine.com; Aliane Wines, www.alinethiebaut.com)