2014 Jean Claude Bessin Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume

Jean-Claude Bessin described the 2015 growing season as one that "presented plenty of difficulties between a moderately troubled flowering and a very dry June and July though we at least had a few showers in August and one that was particularly helpful right before the harvest. The fruit was beginning to wilt and the rain restored a certain amount of volume. Unfortunately right before we were getting ready to pick there was a pretty serious hail storm that hit our vines in Montmains and La Forêt though almost nothing in Valmur or Fourchaume. The storm came from the southwest which is why those two parcels were so hard hit. Thankfully the day time temperatures were reasonable and they cooled at night so there was no disease pressure or rot from the damaged fruit. Moreover there was a fairly strong wind that helped to dry out the damaged berries. We chose to begin picking on the 4th of September and remarkably we picked fully 12 ha by hand in only 7 days. Everyone was exhausted afterwards but at least what we brought in was clean and ripe. The skins were notably thick because of the summertime heat and thus the pressing of the fruit had to be done quite slowly. This was another challenge as we were really scrambling to bring in the fruit as fast as possible yet on the processing side we were pressing almost as slowly as possible! What I find interesting about the 2015s is that they will probably drink well young yet at the same time they are wines that seem to need plenty of élevage." Bessin noted that his 2014s, revisited below, were bottled between December 2015 and March 2016. (Becky Wasserman & Co., www.leserbet.com, Beaune, France; Martin Scott Wines, www.martinscottwines.com, NY/NJ/CT, C'est Vin, LLC, 703.243.3559, Arlington, VA, Veritas Imports, www.veritaswine.com, CA/NV/AZ/NM, Augustan Wine, www.augustanwine.com, Miramar, FL, Wines Unlimited, www.winesunlimited.com, New Orleans, LA, Classified Wine & Spirits, LLC, www.classifiedwine.net, Austin, TX, Chelsea Ventures, LLC, www.chelseaventures.us, Chicago, IL; Berry Brothers & Rudd, www.bbr.com and Fields, Morris & Verdin, www.fmvwines.com, both UK).