The 2009 Chassagne-Montrachet presents attractive roundness in its ripe, juicy fruit. As one might expect, this is the most generous and ripe of the village-level offerings. It too, shows fabulous balance at this level. A textured, deep finish rounds things out nicely. Anticipated maturity: 2012+. I tasted the 2009s with Jerome Faure-Brac, Drouhin’s head winemaker. Interestingly, Faure-Brac chose to serve these wines a touch on the warm side, so I could observe their strengths and weaknesses more clearly. It was a high stakes move, especially in a warm vintage. I am not sure I would have had the guts to make that decision, but it speaks of great conviction….and the wines came through beautifully. The 2009 harvest began on September 21st, quite late for the year. New oak levels were down sharply, malos were blocked on a number of wines and the estate did no batonnage. The wines were racked once prior to being bottled. Importer: Dreyfus Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818-0770