1999 Montrachet Grand Cru

Dominique Lafon, who describes '99 as an easy vintage, told me "there never were any odd aromas, and the wines have always been clear and crisp and precise. They're elegant and never heavy." Lafon left the '99s on their lees for a long time, but with minimal stirring. The 2000s were not quite as clear as the '99s and will get racked earlier. "They've tended to be more reductive and thus I've done more batonnage It actually a better vintage on paper than '99, with excellent intensity and strong acidity. And the young vines actually gave much more sugar in 2000 than in 1999." Even though Lafon made about 10% less wine than in the previous year, there will be more Charmes, since a higher percentage of the young-vines juice will be strong enough to make it into the final blend. In contrast to many of his fellow growers in Meursault, Lafon benefitted by beginning to pick his chardonnay several days after the official start of the harvest.

"Why, with the succulent sugar/acid balance of so many '99 whites, isn't anyone making claims for greatness?" I asked Dominique Lafon. He replied: It is an outstanding year." He continued, "I said this for '97 too, but '99, in terms of the quality of both the reds and whites, may be my most successful vintage yet, even considering the huge crop." The wines have been easy to make, added Lafon, who compared their textures to the estate '82s, but with the added richness of '97. In comparison, notes Lafon, the '98s are almost too rich but not elegant enough, says Lafon. "They are big wines, but they are not fine in terms of flavors and complexity." I sense that some of Lafon's fruit was picked a bit later than was ideal: surely with all the weather challenges of the growing season, ripening was uneven, and deciding when to harvest was a challenge. "I made 290 barrels of wine in '99 and only 120 in '98," noted Lafon, "but I was dead at the end of the '98 harvest. In '99, it was more like playing than like work." Lafon fined most of the '98s, and feels that this process has helped to clarify the flavors.