2013 Saint-Aubin Le Banc

Pierre-Yves Colin told me that favored chardonnay sites were ripe by September 26 or 27 and that he "picked most of the good stuff" by the Friday night before the major rainfall, then waited until the following Monday (October 7) for the vines to dry out. He describes the young '13s as "frank and fine, with a cool aspect" and places them between 2004 and 2007 in style. Interestingly, he found that the wines that finished their malos early lacked eclat and thus he blocked 20% to 30% of the secondary fermentations in his remaining wines. The grand crus will be bottled with 12.6% to 12.8% alcohol following about 0.5% chaptalization, with the village wines weighing in at about 12.2%. Colin did no debourbage or batonnage, and the wines were still on their lees at the end of May but had been lightly sulfured two weeks prior to my visit. Colin considers 2012 to be "a millesime de garde between 2009 and 2010 in style." He was worried about overripeness in the early going but believed that a long elevage on the lees brought greater freshness to the wines. (A Daniel Johnnes Selection; imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, www.skurnikwines.com; also imported by Atherton Wine Imports, www.awiwine.com)