2003 Malescot St. Exupéry

"I've been here for 12 years, and this is my favorite vintage," Jean-Luc Zuger told me in March. "The 2005 is better than anything my father made, and he started in 1955." Malescot harvested very late, starting the merlot only on September 29. "The low crop level of 36 hectoliters per hectare was due to the fact that there was almost no rain in Margaux during the 2005 season," Zuger noted. The blend that I tasted included no press wine and weighed in at 14+% alcohol. The wine finished its malo in December in all-new barriques, and Zuger was still stirring the lees in April. Happily for a wine so rich, the pH of 3.8 and the 3.5 grams per liter of acidity are quite reasonable in the context of recent vintages here.

Jean-Luc Zuger wanted to disabuse me of the possible notion that producers in the Margaux appellation brought in thoroughly ripe fruit in 2004. "We didn't finish the harvest until October 23 and we still had some pink grapes," he told me. "Most of our neighbors picked too early." Zuger used a bit of reverse osmosis for some of his cabernet sauvignon, but not for the merlot, which was already sufficiently rich in sugar. As in past vintages, part of the malolactic fermentation took place in barriques, and Zuger will continue to stir the lees until May.

Jean-Luc Zuger has truly pushed the envelope in 2003, picking extremely ripe fruit, including the estate's merlot, at the very end of September. Some of the lots had pHs as high as 4.2 and the blend when I tasted it was "at least" 3.9, with the alcohol at least 13.5%. No cold maceration was necessary in 2003, and the cuvaison, though five days shorter than usual, still lasted from 25 to 30 days for the estate's various lots. As in recent vintages, the malolactic fermentation took place in barriques The wine, dangerously, was on its lees at the time of my visit (it was scheduled to be racked at the end of April), with batonnage being carried out regularly. The estate was keeping a close watch on bacteria levels. That said, the sample I tasted offered extraordinary sweetness and thickness; I felt as if I were tasting the Pavie of the Margaux appellation.