2009 Chardonnay Belle-Côte

I tasted a large number of wines at Peter Michael. Overall, the 2009 reds made the most positive impression on this visit. The 2009 Chardonnays are very strong. I am less enamored with the 2010 Chardonnays, as they clearly show the ill-effects of a challenging growing season, which at Peter Michael, yielded very concentrated whites with slightly higher than normal alcohol levels and an element of heaviness that is out of character. Winemaker Nick Morlet describes 2010 as a difficult year. Bud break was a full month late. High winds and rain during the flowering resulted in high amounts of shatter and yields that are dramatically lower than normal. Morlet describes 2009 as a vintage where everything ripened quickly and at the same time. This lineup includes several wines that are being released for the first time, including a trio of Pinot Noirs from estate-owned coastal vineyards planted in 2006 and 2007. It will be fascinating to see how those wines develop as the vines acquire age. The newest wine in the ever-expanding Peter Michael stable is a new Cabernet Sauvignon from the former Showket vineyard that will make its debut with the 2011 vintage and that will be called Le Chevalier. I hope to taste it soon. I tasted the 2010 Chardonnays and Pinots from barrel. Those wines were scheduled to be bottled in February 2012. The 2009 Chardonnays and Pinots were bottled in late January/early February 2011.

Winemaker Nick Morlet described 2009 "as a re-run of 2007 for our vineyards and wines. It was a healthy season, warm but without too much heat, and with absolutely no vine pressure. We were able to choose our picking dates rather than having nature dictate to us and the grapes were ripe early, so we could harvest at full maturity but with fresh acidity." Morlet added that with white wines his goal is "to have depth and texture with freshness, with energy," and that he is trying, whenever possible, to use a bare minimum of sulfur "because you run the risk of stunting everything, especially the aromatics." For red wines, he went on, "you have to be willing to slow down and not push the timing of things. It's a slower process than with white wines, of course, but it's no less about precision and it can be easy to lose patience and make hasty decisions when you have a lot of time to think." Nick said the he personally favors his 2009 reds over his 2007s "for their purity and vibrancy."