1997 Meursault En Luraule

Remi Jobard says 1998 is very much like '97, but not quite as rich and with slightly lower acidity. Sugar levels in '98 were a bit lower-typically in the 13% to 13.5% range, "but not 14%, as in '97." Jobard prefers his '97s for their gras even though he admits that the sheer fat of these wines has a tendency to mask their terroir character. "1996 is a better vintage for those who want to see the differences between our various soils." Jobard presses his grapes slowly and gently; because he begins with clean bourbes he does not need to do more than 12 hours of decanting. In both '98 and '97, says Jobard, the lees were relatively pale and clean, so he put about 80% of the lees back into the wines. Incidentally, Jobard uses the traditional cordon du royat pruning approach, normally utilized in higher-vigor sites and unusual today for chardonnay in Burgundy. He says this pruning techniques gives him smaller yields and a degree more of potential alcohol without sacrificing acidity. For the first time, Jobard bottled his '97s without filtration, though he emphasized that he had been steadily reducing filtration since 1992.

"1997 is agreeable, while 1996 is hard," says Jobard; "they are total opposites." Jobard, who has vinified by himself since 1992 (father Charles is retired), says the breakthrough at this domaine really occurred in '95, when he switched to longer, gentler pressing. (And even finer wines lie ahead, as Jobard has recently bought a new press, which he will inaugurate for the '98 harvest.) At about the same time, he began pruning shorter to get lower yields. Jobard harvested on the late side in 1996, and got thoroughly ripe fruit with potential alcohol as high as 14%. (The '97 fruit brought sugars even a bit higher, he claims.) In '96, says Jobard, one sees the differences between the crus and between the lieux dit in '95 and '94, he adds, there more of a heaviness to the wines, a more pronounced vintage character. All the '96s were bottled before the '97 harvest, as Jobard does not have the space in his cellar to keep two vintages in barrel at the same time.