2003 Meursault Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir

Roulot told me he was even more pessimistic a couple weeks before the 2004 harvest than he had been in 2002. "The yields were very high, as in 1999-55 hectoliters per hectare on average-and there was a big disparity in ripeness levels from one vineyard to another," he said. "There was a lot of oidium, and the veraison had been very late." He ended up taking a full two weeks to pick, compared to just six days in 2003. One reason the harvest took so much time was that Roulot did two passes through the vines where there was oidium in order to eliminate the affected grapes. He then did a full 24-hour decanting of the must. Although he kept a lot of the lees, he did very little batonnage. Incidentally, Roulot was one of several vignerons who told me that extended barrel aging enabled the 2003s to regain some of the soil character that initially seemed to have been burned out by the scorching sun. "The wines began showing more minerality from contact with their lees in early '04." Roulot racked them for the first time in August, then kept the wines on their fine lees in tank for another six months before bottling them. He advises drinking the 2003s within three to five years, but believes that the minerally wines like Tessons, Tillets and Perrieres may surprise with their longevity.

Jean-Marc Roulot harvested between August 25 and 30, bringing in grapes that he described as "not hugely rich in alcohol" (his Meursault Perrieres was highest, at 13. 9%). Roulot was one of a few vignerons who told me that at the outset he planned to rack and bottle his wines earlier than normal but then had a change of heart, as he found that the wines were changing in a positive direction in barrel and resisting oxidation well. Roulot noted that although he had raised his prices a good 15% between 2001 and 2002, vintage 2003 did not merit a further price hike. (Kermit Lynch, Berkeley CA Parliament Wine Company, Atlantic City NJ