(Originally published 9 December 2017.)
Christophe Drag said that production was down about 35% from a normal vintage.
Christophe Drag said that production was down about 35% from a normal vintage.
Harvesting began on 1 October — late for producers I visited — and finished just before the rains. All grapes were destemmed and no triage was necessary. There was no chaptalization, with the grapes coming in at 13-13.5º natural alcohols. Malolactic fermentations were earlier than usual, finishing by the end of June. Bottling may be as early as February, depending on how the wines continue to develop.
With the late harvesting, some of these wines may be closer to 2015 in style than most of the other 2016s I tasted.
There is interesting value here, especially for the Bourgogne and village wines. (Continue reading here.)