Frédéric Weber said that what was most difficult in 2017 was to choose the dates to harvest — some vineyards had hydric stress, others, not. But rain in early September unblocked vines and brought back the acidity. Harvesting began 4 September with Côte de Beaune; it began on the Côte de Nuits on 11 September and it finished there on 20 September. The grapes were in excellent health, so there was very little triage, only a little for grapes affected by the summer heat. Use of stems was a bit higher than usual: 15-20% on the Côte de Beaune and 25 to 40% on the Côte de Nuits. There was a cold maceration of 5-6 days for the wines.
Malo-lactic fermentations were relatively quick and all had finished by March.
For Monthélie and Volnay, the yields were limited by drought, but on the whole, this was the first vintage since 2011 that was near a normal yield.
I was bothered by some caramel taste in some of the wines, as noted below; if that goes away, I would score them higher.
2017 Bourgogne Pinot Noir Réserve
Iron in nose and mouth, medium weight, smooth, solid Bourgogne. 20% raised in barrel. 86/B
2017 Monthélie Domaine
Nice complexity in nose — fruit and a little truffle. Smooth, pure red fruits, medium-light, very charming. Good concentration. 20% new oak, 20% whole clusters. Bouchard owns 6 ha. of Monthélie. (87-90)
2017 Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru Les Lavières Domaine
Dark fruits, round, smooth, medium-full, slight salinity. Caressing on tongue. No nervosity here that I associate with Lavières, but a very pleasing bottle. (87-90)
2017 Beaune 1er Cru du Château Domaine
Bouchard’s Beaune du Château is made from Beaune premier cru grapes from Bouchard’s holdings that are not bottled as a separate wine. I tasted an approximate assemblage of what will go into the final wine. Dark fruits, very good freshness, medium-weight, good energy. Nice stoniness to the texture. (89-91)
2017 Beaune 1er Cru Clos de la Mousse Domaine
Fleshy with dark fruits, medium weight, spreads through the mouth, a touch of salinity. Ripe, but not overripe. Sensual. The average age of the vines is about 45 years; the wine from the young vines is not included here. (89-92)
2017 Beaune 1er Cru Grèves Vigne de l’Enfant Jésus Domaine
Floral nose with some spices. Good freshness, concentration, dark berry fruits, a bit of violet. Moderate acidity gives fleshiness, good length. Will age well. Whole cluster varies by parcel. (92-94)
2017 Volnay 1er Cru Les Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot Domaine
Silky, medium-light, long, deep, dark berry and plum fruits, Clearly from a ripe year, but pure pleasure. The usual Caillerets texture is not here (as was generally the case for the Caillerets from this vintage that I tasted), but very elegant. Around 25% whole cluster. (92-95)
2017 Le Corton Domaine
Sucrosity adds to roundness. Dark fruits, possibly with a bit of caramel. Elegant, especially for a Corton. Light on palate. Doesn’t quite come together today. About14º alcohol. About 25% whole cluster. (90-92)