2013 Batard Montrachet

The 2013 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru has a thrilling, spine-tingling bouquet with animated mineral-driven fruit and that touch of reduction that is in vogue at the moment (although it will be racked in a month and will probably disappear.) The palate is extremely well balanced with superb weight in the mouth. The razor-sharp acidity cuts this Grand Cru like a knife through butter and like Michel Niellon’s Bâtard-Montrachet, this seems animated and compelling straight from the off, blessed with outstanding tension on the finish. Bon vin. ||I drove cautiously to the village of Gamay for my first appointment of the day chez Marc Colin. The Côte de Beaune is prone to thick fogs at this time of the year, and I could barely see the road between Meursault and Puligny, though the fog magically lifted as I approached the small village where one of my favorite Burgundy growers is located. Damien Colin was on hand to guide me through their comprehensive portfolio of 2013s from Village Crus although way up to their crown jewel of Montrachet, brother Joseph just popping his head around the door to say hello. “It was quite a difficult growing season,” Damien told me. “Humidity was a problem. The harvest was quite late. We began on 30 September, which compared to 19 September in 2012 and 11 September in 2014. Flowering passed well, but it was long because of the humidity and that necessitated lots of work in summer. It was important to deleaf to aerate the vines. The harvest was ‘fragile,' the vines in Chassagne picked later than in Saint Aubin since they are more susceptible to rot. Bâtard and [Chassagne] Vide-Bouse were in fact harvested four days earlier than other vineyards as they had already reached full maturity and there was the pressure of rot. Alcoholic fermentation for the whites are now all done in foudres. We found that different barrels completed the malolactic fermenation at different speeds but most were done by February. Also, the élevage for the two Grand Crus are specially made by François Frères to accommodate the exact size of the crop. There have been changes in the winery: longer élevage, zero bâtonnage nowadays, less new oak than in previous years. I find that there is more acidity and more energy in the wines. You can drink them young because they are flattering, but the acidity means that will age.”|There is a knockout range of wines in 2013 from this address. There is just an honesty, a deceptive simplicity to them because on the surface they are so delicious, yet underneath are some articulate expressions of terroir, stunning mineralité and hidden complexity that tends to become clearer with aeration. I have heaped praise upon Domaine Marc Colin in previous years. This is no different. Domaine Marc Colin is one of the best growers in the Côte de Beaune, perhaps to Saint Aubin what Jean-Marc Roulot is to Meursault. And you can quote me on that.| eRobertParker.com.December, 2014