2012 Domaine Guilhem et Jean-Hugues Goisot Saint-Bris Exogyra Virgula

The Goisot 2012 Saint-Bris Exogyra Virgula exhibits aromatics I associate with Kimmeridgian underpinnings: chalk dust, struck flint, brine, lemon and its pips, along with sage, thyme and nettle. There is an austere combination of firmness and fullness here and a persistent if rather bitter finish, happily significantly assuaged by saliva-inducing salinity and the juices of fresh lemon and grapefruit. This should serve well through at least 2014 and with luck pick up additional primary juiciness as well as shed some bitterness going into bottle. The Goisot family – for more about whose work, consult my extensive account in issue 179 – has, for at least the two decades during which I have been following and buying their wares, been a source of consistently outstanding white wine values, and in recent years has demonstrated that Chardonnays from around the village of Saint-Bris – better-known for the Sauvignon that informs its eponymous appellation – can rival Chablis from top-flight addresses. Especially in this context, I found the 2012 and 2011 collections here disappointing. Apropos 2012, it must be born in mind that vines in the Saint-Bris neighborhood – which once counted as a marginal “cool climate” – tend to be planted on its warmest slopes, and as Guilhem Goisot sees 2012, one had to take a certain level of alcohol into account, which could accentuate bitterness, especially in Sauvignon. “This was a vintage where you had to be patient and harvest at the right moment,” he opines. “The problem is that many growers harvest solely on the basis of alcoholic potential. Already in early September we had 13%, 13.5% potential alcohol. But the heat spike in mid-August had actually blocked real maturation, and the grapes lacked flavor. After the rain in September, the vines recovered and in the end alcohol levels were still acceptable, but now the fruit tasted ripe. It used to be,” Goisot adds by way of longer-term perspective, “that Chardonnay always ripened its way north over a two week period from Macon up to Saint Bris, with Beaune in the middle. But in recent years, things are ripening at practically the same time.” Pressure from mildew and oidium was also strong around Saint-Bris in 2012, and Goisot reports that pressing fruit whose skin had been toughened in August yet whose pips could harbor unpleasant bitterness was especially onerous, taking up to twice the usual time to get right. Incidentally, regular patrons of Goisot should look for the striking new label they have just adopted, after many years with virtually no change. I just want to see that we get the old excitement back in the bottle. Thomas Calder Selections (various importers), Paris; fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29; also imported by Beaune Imports, Berkeley, CA, tel. (510) 559 1040