2003 Meursault Désirée

Vintage 2004 brought a big crop, with even the estate's old vines producing upwards of 45 hectoliters per hectare, said Dominique Lafon, who maintained he left the oidium-affected grapes on the vines at harvest time. With potential alcohol levels in the 12.5% to 13.5% range, and even a bit higher for the Perrieres and Montrachet, chaptalization was not necessary. The sugar fermentations were especially long this year, but the malos, happily, were all finished when I stopped by to taste in early June. The crus here promise to be among the standouts of the 2004 vintage.

The Meursault hillside suffered from the summer sun in 2003, while the bottom of the hill was hard-hit by frost, noted assistant Stephane Thibodaux. The Lafon holding in Le Montrachet fared better, though, as there's deeper soil here, and the vines are planted north-south, which means that the grapes were less exposed to the mid-day sun. Crop levels were down sharply in 2003, noted Thibodaux, as the vines had to wrestle with "frost, hail, thirst and sun. "For example, there are just 14 barrels of Charmes, compared to 40 in 2002, and 6 of Perrieres, vs. 14 the previous year. Lafon is doing less and less batonnage as a rule these days, and did less still with his 2003s. Thibodaux told me that the domain used a fairly high percentage of new oak (normally between 33% and 50%) as a result of having purchased the barrels in advance with the expectation of a somewhat larger crop, but noted that it's the power of the wine that can support aging in new oak, not just its acidity. (Classic Wine Imports, Boston MA Jeroboam Wines, New York NY