1997 Puligny-Montrachet Truffieres

Bernard Morey characterizes the '98s as a bit heavy, richer and rounder than the '97s but with lower acidity. With the exception of the Puligny Truffieres, the Chassagne Embrazees and the Saint-Aubin Charmois, which were hit by frost, yields were mostly 15%-20% higher than in '97. Morey was careful about eliminating the off-color bourbes following the fermentation, but then did more frequent batonnage than in the previous year in order to protect the wines, which he described as oxidation-prone. The '98s had been racked a week prior to my visit, but Morey was still keeping a bit of the lees with the wines. When he feels his wines are too soft, Morey prefers to add citric acidity, which he believes gives the wines an elegance and freshness; tartaric acidity, he says, has a tendency to dry and harden the wine.

Morey fattened up his '96s by leaving them on their lees until the July after the harvest. But he had already racked his '97s in April (and did less batonnage as he began to notice a leesy taste in the wines. Morey did not acidify his '97s; prior to the malolactic fermentations, he thought the wines had enough acidity but at the time of my visit he found them a bit flabby "a little in the style of '94 but fresher and with no botrytis." I found them a bit short on personality. Morey 1996s are another matter entirely: these wines show excellent freshness and purity of aromas. The days leading up to the '96 harvest, Morey points out, brought an unusual concentration of sugars and acids.