2003 Meursault Clos du Cromin

Javillier has his own theory on why so many white Burgundies show premature oxidation. He believes that the most vulnerable wines are those that get too much debourbage and then are further cleaned up for early French tasters. "Those wines will show well for one or two years," he says, "but then the primary aromas disappear and the wines start to smell old." Javillier actually did a longer decanting of the must in 2004 than he had the previous year, as the quality of the lees was not as good (in 2003, the lees were a healthy yellow-green color). The lees he did keep allowed him to get more volume into his wines. The malos generally finished in March and April, and some wines had been sulfited by the time of my visit. In comparison to 2004, Javillier made extensive use of the lees in 2003 "to replace the missing acidity in the wines." He began by doing virtually no debourbage, then stirred the wines weekly until the malos started, to keep them fresh. He then bottled all of them in January 2005, rather than finishing a portion of his wines barely 12 months after the harvest, as he had done in previous years. "I broke all the rules of the enologists," he summarized. (A Peter Vezan selection; importers include North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; Vintner Select, Cincinnati, OH; and Arborway Imports, Lexington, MA; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, Cleveland, OH and Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd., Lake Success, NY)

Javillier was slowly healing from a busted knee following a wipeout on ice on the sidewalk outside his cellar this winter. Like Jean-Marie Guffens, his brother in batonnage he was one of a minority of winemakers who felt that the use of the lees in 2003 was essential to making rich, balanced, complex wines. Those who did too much debourbage could easily get meager wines," he pointed out, describing those of his colleagues who let their musts settle for an extended period so that they could leave most of the lees behind. Javillier did almost no debourbage then did more lees stirring in 2003 than in any past vintage, stirring the wines every week. The lees were clean and of incredible quality," he told me. They're still giving richness to the wines. When you don't have much acidity, you need as much material as possible to replace the acids. And of course the lees also give the wines more complexity. "Javillier started picking fruit in Meursault Charmes, Puligny-Montrachet and Corton-Charlemagne on August 28, then attacked the rest of his vines on August 30. We only got real phenolic maturity by waiting," he explained. And we also benefited by picking under somewhat cooler conditions. " Javillier is convinced that the best 2003s will prove to be outstanding. (A Peter Vezan selection; importers include North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley CA Vintner Select, Cincinnati OH; and Arborway Imports, Lexington, MA; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, Cleveland, OH and Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd. , Lake Success, NY)