2013 St Aubin Blanc Les Princee

The 2013 St. Aubin les Princée has a rather muted bouquet at the moment, with grass clippings and mulch aromas. The palate is better with fresh pear and nectarine on the entry, the 5% new oak just giving the finish a little lift, simple but with decent length. Enjoy over the next five years.

The 2013 St. Aubin les Princée has a rather muted bouquet at the moment, with grass clippings and mulch aromas. The palate is better with fresh pear and nectarine on the entry, the 5% new oak just giving the finish a little lift, simple but with decent length. Enjoy over the next five years. ||Olivier Lamy has been one of my go-to producers for a number of years and so I was eagerly looking forward to tasting his 2013s. Like any good vigneron, he was up pruning the vines when I turned up at his deserted winery. A quick call to the office and within seconds his jeep screeched to halt outside, though all the time I could tell that he was itching to get back into the field. The welcome news is that just the previous week Olivier had finally bought his jewel of Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet,which unbeknownst to many including myself, was actually under fermage. The owner had wanted to sell this coveted parcel to a neighbor who had offered well above the asking price, however, this contravened Olivier’s first right of refusal and he took the matter to a tribunal that found in his favor. Sure, he has had to borrow a wedge of cash from the bank. But it will be a safe investment for the long-term and in my view, a potential wrong has been righted. Eagle-eyed readers will also spot another addition to his portfolio, a red and white Santenay in Clos des Gravieres, the latter especially worth seeking. Olivier commenced the 2013 vintage on September 20 in Chassagne and finished on October 3 with the St Aubin La Princée. He only had to chaptalize a little, since most of the natural alcohol levels were coming in between 12.2 and 12.8 degrees. This was a strong set of wines as you would expect: lean and focused, surfeit with terroir expression and mineralité. While I did feel that some of the “lesser” crus appear to have suffered just a little in terms of concentration and complexity, certainly his top vineyards in Saint Aubin and Chassagne deliver everything you could want from one of the best growers in Burgundy. Some of the vineyard such as the "En Remilly" and "Murgers des Dents de Chien" are spectacular and compete with the finest Puligny wines but at far more reasonable prices. eRobertParker.com.December, 2014