1999 Chambolle-Musigny Les Fuées 1er Cru

Mugnier compares 2000 in style to 1997, the vintage that brought the highest sugars to date for this estate. But he believes that 2000 is less tannic. "In 2000 there was no rot, there was good ripeness of the skins, and we had a half-degree more sugar than in 1999," he told me. Some of the 2000s were lightly acidified, but Mugnier generally avoids adding acid. "I always have the laboratory tests done but I usually don't use the results," said Mugnier. "I don't care about pH: 1997 had a very high pH but I didn't acidify. I have no problem with the longevity of my wines. I've been making wines for 17 years and no wine is going downhill yet." The 2000s had been racked and sulfured two weeks prior to my visit and thus may possess more sweetness and flesh than they showed in mid-November. (A Becky Wasserman selection; importers include Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd., Lake Success, NY; and Esquin Imports, San Francisco, CA)

Mugnier made the full yields in 1999, after having produced an infinitesimal 20 hectoliters per hectare the previous year. He picked much of the fruit after the rains that interrupted the harvest but noted that rain in early September had already swelled the grapes and that the late precipitation caused little additional dilution. Mugnier shortened his macerations but did a more extractive vinification, punching down the cap more frequently. (In '98, in contrast, he did a cooler, less extractive vinification to avoid getting hard tannins.) The '99s are slightly higher in pH, and lower in sugar, than the '98s, which he describes as his best vintage of the '90s. I underestimated these '98s a year ago; the Musigny in particular is stunning-an early candidate for wine of the vintage. The '99s had been racked and sulfured about three weeks prior to my visit and thus may well turn out to be more supple than they showed in November. (A Becky Wasserman selection; importers include Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd., Lake Success, NY; and Esquin Imports, San Francisco, CA)