1998 Musigny Grand Cru

Following the rainfall after the ban de vendange for the grand crus, Roumier started harvesting on the 23rd of September, then resumed again the next day after another evening of rain. At that point, he quickly adjusted his strategy, bringing in his best vineyards immediately. "There was no evidence of dilution until Sunday afternoon," said Roumier. "And even then we lost acidity rather than sugars. The fruit picked late Sunday and Monday had higher pH, and it was necessary to do a saignee The acids are not strong in the '99s, but they are actually higher than in the '98s, and the wines taste fresh." Roumier, who does not claim that either '99 or '98 is as good as his '96 or '95 ('96 is his favorite recent vintage), did fairly serious extraction following the '99 harvest because he felt the high polyphenol levels could support such an approach. "I thought the wines were too tannic just after the vinification, but after the malolactic fermentations they're rich and mellow." Roumier structured, ageworthy '98s have turned out very well. "The '99s are more elegant and approachable wines," he notes, "while the '98s show more primary fruit; they're tougher but not hard. But '96 is the vintage that will last 30 years or more."

Christophe Roumier has been on a roll in recent vintages, far outperforming the Burgundy average in every vintage since 1992. Roumier began harvesting on the 23rd in 1998, picking his crus in three intense days of good weather, with ripe skins and good ripe fruit flavors. Fruit picked later, after another round of rain, had to be strictly sorted due to rapidly spreading rot. All of the '98 fruit was destemmed. The estate-wide yield was just 24 hectoliters per hectare, according to Roumier-or about half as high as that of 1999. Potential alcohols in '98 were in the healthy 12.0%-12.8% range, said Roumier, pHs were about average, and total acidity was on the low side, as in '97. But less acidification was needed for the '98s than in the previous year. Roumier planned to begin bottling in January. In recent years, Roumier has maintained the temperature of fermentation at around 32oC rather than bringing it down to 28o. The higher temperature, he explains, helps to polymerize the tannins and avoid any bitterness in the finished wines.