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Viinin Kuvailu
The Story
The vines were planted in two stages by Auguste and Pierre Morey. They are old, weak vines producing little (between 20 and 35 hl/ha). Badly affected by fan-leaf degeneration, they have improved considerably since the application of biodynamic preparations. The parcel is situated at the far south of Montrachet also facing south. The soil is fairly dark, quite deep and stony. It consistently produces wines rich in alcohol, balanced out by their marked acidity. A great deal of substance, these are wines to keep for a long time.
The Montrachet family consists of grand five Grands Crus grown in the two villages of Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet. These two share the Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet appellations. Chevalier and Bienvenues belong to Puligny, Criots belongs to Chassagne. These Grands Crus are the most southerly of the Côte-d'Or, and lie between Meursault in the north and Santenay in the south. Their origins go back to the Middle Ages - the work of the Cistercian abbey of Maizières and the Lords of Chagny. The wines of Montrachet (pronounced Mon-rachay) came fully into their own in the 17th century. There is no argument : this is the finest expression of the Chardonnay grape anywhere on earth. The Grand Cru appellations date from 31 July, 1937.
The underlying rocks date from the Jurassic, 175 million years BC. Exposures lie to the east and the south. Altitudes: 265-290 metres (Chevalier) ; 250-270 metres (Montrachet) ; 240-250 metres (Bâtard, Bienvenues, Criots). In the " Climat " of Montrachet, the soils are thinnish and lie on hard limestone traversed by a band of reddish marl. In Chevalier, the soils are thin and stony rendzinas derived from marls and marly-limestones. In the Bâtard " climat " soils are brown limestone which are deeper and, at the foot of the slope, more clayey.
The power and aromatic persistence of these lofty wines demands aristocratic and sophisticated dishes with complex textures : « pâté » made from fattened goose liver, of course, and caviar. Lobster, crawfish, and large wild prawns, with their powerful flavours and firm textures, pay well-deserved homage to the wine and match its opulence. Firm-fleshed white fish such as monkfish would be equally at home in their company. And let us not forget well-bred and well-fattened free-range poultry whose delicate flesh, with the addition of a cream-and-mushroom sauce, will be lapped up in the unctuous and noble texture of this wine. Even a simple piece of veal, fried or in sauce, would be raised to heavenly heights by the Montrachet's long and subtle acidity.
Serving temperature : 12 to 14 °C.
Wine Information
The Weather
An early winter, with some snow as early as November, but few days with very low temperatures. The beginning of spring was rather cold and wet.
- A normal bud break, starting at the usual time - around April 10th.
- Heavy rainfalls in the spring encouraged attacks of mildew which were however kept well under control.
- A normal - between the 5th and 10th June - rather long-drawn-out flowering season which ended round June 20th.
- July was hot, with the normal average hours of sunshine and storms.
- August was sunny with low precipitation.
- The beginning of September was similar to the end of August: hot and sunny, except around the 17th and the 19th, with a few outbreaks of rain.
- On the eve prior to the harvest, the grapes, white as well as red, were perfectly healthy.
The Harvest
We finally decided to begin harvesting on 15th September starting with the old white vines and the young Pinots. Maturity was perfect (between 13° and 13.5° for both whites and reds.). Each day we then harvested the whites and the reds in turn:
- The grapes remained in perfectly healthy condition until the end of the harvest.
- The young Chardonnay vines were heavily-cropped and required extra time to finish ripening fully.
The harvest ended on 24th September in Puligny Champgain.
Yields were important, around 40 hl/ha in red, and 50 to 60 hl/ha in white, except in Montrachet (35 hl/ha).
Vinification
Red wines 1999 was a year with no particular problems; the musts had a very good acidity-sugar balance, the berries had thick skins and the extraction of colour and tannins was easy.
| We macerated for about 3 weeks, without forcing the extractions, trying to maintain temperatures below 32° C in order to bring the fruit and the elegance of the wines forward. Very good extraction of colour, high acidities, with low levels of malic acid as a direct result of the perfect maturity of the grapes. The tannins are there, well coated by an intensely fruity flavour and plenty of fat. |
White wines The whites did not pose any problem: straightforward pressings; easy rackings; regular fermentations. The sugar-alcohol fermentations finished around Christmas, the malos getting under way slowly thereafter to finish in April. In 1999 - the wines being plump and ample enough - we preferred to favour elegance and aromatic purity with only occasional stirring of the lees.
The wines
The reds :
Superb, intense, very deep colours. Generously fruity and pleasant with notes of blackberry, blackcurrant and raspberry. The tannins are pleasant and noticeable; the acidity, dominated by tartaric acid, is very good. The wines score 90 on the quality scale, with less of a southern, more refined temperament. Undoubtedly the domaine's most attractive vintage in red I can recall.
The whites :
| All the wines produced from old vines are classical examples of the appellation: they combine power with elegance and a beautiful lingering aftertaste. Those made from young vines do not give so much interest, the yields being too high to turn them into wines that are representative of their appellation. These were all declassified in the village Meursault cuvée. 1999 is a really great vintage with very attractive wines that will keep very well nonetheless. |
Vuosikerta 1999
1999 VINTAGE in Burgundy
The last harvest of the century
Generous yields and exceptional quality for Burgundy's 1999 harvest
Burgundy, France, November 1999 ? The 1999 Burgundy wine harvest was as generous in terms of yield as it was exceptional in terms of quality. According to the Burgundy Wine Bureau (BIVB), the climatic conditions permitted, as happens only rarely, the number of grape bunches per plant to exceed the average of the last five years.
The harvest was marked by sunny conditions and record levels of maturity in the crop. Though there was rain in the last few days, well-tended vines yielded a promising harvest of grapes rich in sugar. Volume is expected to total around 1.5 million hectolitres, which is higher than 1998.
The first two weeks of September in Burgundy saw temperature records being broken and, as a result, well-ripened grapes. Sugars were at an average of 180 g/l (16.8g of sugar yields 1% alcohol) for the Chardonnay grapes, the highest average figure reached at the start of the harvest in the last ten years. In the Mâconnais, levels approached those of 1995 (an exceptional vintage). While the sugar level of the grapes in the Côte Chalonnaise left other years far behind, in the Yonne, it fell between that of 1995 and 1996.
The Pinot Noir grapes also experienced record levels of maturity. One vineyard in the Côte de Beaune yielded grapes with sugars at 230g/l at the beginning of September. In the Côte de Beaune, sugars reached 1995 levels, and in the Saône-et-Loire and Yonne records were broken as well. On average, sugar levels were 25g/l above those for 1988. The polyphenolic structure of the grapes (which determines the colour and structure of the wine) was excellent.
Every gourmet knows that the right balance between sweetness and acidity with food is crucial. The same is true of grapes. The sugar level determines the alcoholic strength of the wine while acidity is responsible for the perfect balance to give a wine its keeping qualities. It is clear that the high sugar levels seen in the grapes this year are matched by excellent levels of total acidity derived from the tartaric acid naturally present in the fruit. In the Pinot Noir grapes, average levels of tartaric acid, at around 7.5g/l, are higher than the average for the last ten years and close to those of 1991 and 1993. Equally, average total acidity in the Chardonnay grapes matches the average of the last decade.
From mid-September onwards Burgundy saw the return of rain, especially at night, and this upset the smooth progress of the harvest to some extent. However, the health of the grapes remained excellent and the rain had only limited effects on the quality of the crop, especially in the case of those growers who had the foresight and concern for quality which led them to carry out crop thinning or a green harvest earlier in the season.
At Domaine Latour the picking started on the 17th September with the vineyards in Beaune, the average sugar levels were 12.5% potential alcohol with some vineyards, including the Corton Charlemagne at 14%! Our harvest was finished by 27th thus we avoided much of the heavy rains.
The wines have now finished their alcoholic fermentation and will spend the next 18 months in barrel acquiring structure, flavour and complexity.
Our two sister wineries in the Valley of the Ardéche and further south in the Var both reported an excellent crop of healthy ripe fruit.
In the Ardéche isolated patches of spring frost and summer hail reduced our yield, leaving a small quantity of fully ripe and concentrated fruit. The two week harvest began on 2nd September under clear blue skies as the Chardonnay d?Ardéche came in at 13.2° whilst the Grand Ardéche easily made 13.5°. The wines have good rich fruitiness, and supportive acidity which gives excellent ageing potential to these well balanced young wines.
The Pinot Noir at Domaine de Valmoissine enjoyed an exceptional year with optimal levels of sun and rain throughout the growing season. The harvest began on 13th September, and lasted for 10 days. Whilst there was a little rain on the 8th day, all the fruit was harvested at 13.5°. This will be Valmoissines? best year yet, already the wines are showing ample richness, subtleness and a silky smoothness.
