2002 Puligny-Montrachet Les Referts 1er Cru

Ente picked early in 2003, beginning with his pinot noir on August 19 and his chardonnay on August 20. Even on the 19th, he told me, acidity levels were very low, and Ente has taken advantage of all available methods to protect his wines from oxidation. The 2003s, says Ente, boast great sucrosite but are technically very dry, with residual sugar around one gram per liter. Very low yields (the estate-wide average was just 22 hectoliters per hectare) were what gave the 2003s their opulence, Ente maintained. Ente acidified his musts and made light further corrections later if he felt they were necessary. (Kermit Lynch, Berkeley CA

The 2002 growing season wasn't a great one," said Ente, "but we got good concentration from the wind and were able to wait to harvest." Ente was one of a couple of growers who told me that there was a big drop in acidity just prior to the harvest due to the uptake of potassium during the rainfall at the beginning of September. In addition, said Ente, more acidity was lost during the precipitation of tartrates. Ente told me that 2001 shows a lot of similarities to 2002: very ripe, rich grapes picked at similar yields and with similar sugars, requiring no chaptalization. As always, Ente's 2002 Aligote and Bourgogne Blanc were among the best I tasted; the latter wine was particularly creamy and dense, offering superbly concentrated pineapple and grapefruit flavors - as good as many growers' premier crus.