2022 Montrachet Grand Cru

Eric Germain guided me through Girardin’s 2022s at their capacious winery in the industrial site just outside Meursault, where you also find Bitouzet-Prieur and Henri Boillot, as well as a couple of cooperages. “Like the last few years, there were warm temperatures during harvest between August 25 until September 7,” he explains. “We started with the reds in Volnay. We used a crusher/de-stemmer for all the crops and utilized less sulfur than usual, 1g/hL instead of 5g/hL, just at the end of the malo and just before fining and filtration. The whites are all in barrel. We have a good balance with alcohol, around 13.0% and 13.5%, and a pH between 3.25 and 3.35. For the reds, we have used whole bunches but not 100%, as they were very healthy when they came in. The reds are mostly matured in 30% new oak, with less for the regional wines. I think the style is quite similar to 2002 but with better balance in terms of ripeness.”