Tasted from a new demi-muid, the 2012 Bourgogne Chitry exhibits a bit of extraneous lanolin and resin but the contents of its older counterparts were still in alcoholic fermentation when I visited the De Moors in June. Peony-like, musky and sweet floral overtones along with predictable fusil and chalk notes emerge on the nose and suffuse the lees-enriched yet bright palate. There is no oak-interference in the juicy finish, whose hints of mint and white pepper add both cooling and stimulating satisfaction. Look for fine showings through at least 2016.
High up in Courgis, Alice and Olivier De Moor were not impacted by 2012 frost, though that scarcely means that their vintage was unproblematic. Oidium and mildew required repeated treatments and the harvest a certain selectivity, but in the end yields were nearly equal to those of 2011 - and consequently, alcohol levels no higher - while quality was, as usual for them but increasingly so as years go by, impressively over-achieving by any standards, let alone those of appellation. (A potentially impressive but already 14% alcohol 2012 Saint-Bris was too far-removed from completing its fermentation at the time of my visit to more fully assess.) The 2012 harvest did not begin here until the last days of September, but what hung was, by the De Moors- testimony, almost entirely healthy fruit. With the exception of a Saint Bris whose virtues are largely vitiated by its high volatility - and there are sometimes wines that get away, given their high-risk, hands-off cellar approach - the De Moors' 2011s are brashly, very distinctively, and in a couple of instances memorably delicious. These were, for the most part, not bottled until late last or early this year. A continued investment is being made here, incidentally, in new demi-muids - of Austrian as well as French origin - that seem to suit the De Moors' intentions for Chablis, Bourgogne Chitry and old vines Aligote.
Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 334 8191