2002 Meursault Sous la Velle

Jobard started harvesting on September 2, "after most of my neighbors had finished, in order to get phenolic maturity. We had 20 millimeters of rain on August 27," he added, "and the vines absorbed the water and started working again, without losing acidity. "With yields in the very low 25 to 30 hectoliters-per-hectare range, Jobard did not chaptalize and he acidified lightly for the fermentations. Jobard does a long, slow pressing of the grapes but then almost no debourbage. But although he normally keeps all of the fine lees, he avoids batonnage because he likes to retain as much gas as possible to keep the wines fresh. Incidentally, Jobard has some Corton-Charlemagne in 2003, but two of the three barrels were still fermenting their sugars when I stopped by to taste.

Jobard describes his young 2002s as suppler than his 2001s. The 2002s have the suppleness of the 2000s on the attack, then a bit more vivacity in the mouth." Jobard is one of a few Meursault growers I visited this spring who views the 2001s as true vins de garde thanks to their strong material and sound acidity. Two thousand one is denser and more concentrated than 2000 due to the later picking," explains Jobard, who began harvesting a full eight days after the ban de vendange and says he benefitted from the concentrating effect of the north wind: The grapes were darker in 2001; they were turning brown without rotting yet retained good acidity." Jobard purchased a second press in time for the 2002 vintage, which allowed for slower, longer pressing. He noted that slower pressing was helpful due to the tougher skins of 2002. Jobard ages his wines in oak for a year, then keeps them in cuve for another six months prior to bottling. He fines but does not filter. Neither the 2002s nor the 2001s were chaptalized.