1997 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

The vines that were hit by frost in the spring of '98 were also more affected by oidium, said winemaker Pierre Morey, explaining that the frost "provoked a fragility that left the fruit more vulnerable to any funguses." This development, in conjunction with the rains of early September, meant that the vintage required much more triage at the harvest, and it was critical to have a table de trie The '98s feature average acidity levels, according to Morey; there was less malic acidity burned off by heat in 1998 than in the previous year, he noted, and thus the acidity levels went down substantially during the secondary fermentations. My notes on the '98s, below, are on barrels that had finished their malolactic fermentations. Morey describes the '98s as highly concentrated wines (especially the crus hit hardest by frost and hail), noting that they are not at all marked by the new oak barrels. While I appreciated the precision of a number of these very promising wines, it remains to be seen whether they will have the middle-palate flesh to enrobe their firm structures. The Leflaive '97s have turned out to be solid and in some cases rather tannic wines that offer less early appeal than many other wines from this vintage. The best of them, however, are among the standouts of the vintage and should reward aging. Morey noted that the domain did not harvest especially late in '97; in any event its fruit can now be picked very quickly to take advantage of clement harvest conditions.

Leflaive winemaker Pierre Morey believes that the wild yeasts that ferment these wines actually produce a bit of sulfur, and thus the estate may be able to add less sulfur to its '97s than would ordinarily be required. On the other hand, these yeasts may also have impeded the malolactic bacteria in '96 and have been responsible for the stubbornly slow secondary fermentations. At the time of my visit, none of the Leflaive '96s had been bottled, and a few had not yet finished their malos! Though these wines were tricky to taste, I nevertheless came away with the impression that they would rank among the superstars of the vintage. Morey said he was continuing to stir the lees even of the wines currently in cuve despite the difficulty of such work. He stopped batonnage of the '97s within three months or so after the vintage.