2009 Meursault En La Barre

The 2010s here were in the middle of their malolactic fermentations at the beginning of June--no surprise in this cold cellar. Antoine Jobard noted that the crop in 2010 was very small, and that the wines are better balanced than the 2009s owing to their healthier acidity. Although the family's vines were not hit by hail, considerable coulure, especially on the hillsides and in the old vines, reduced the yields. A number of the crus, said Antoine, were down 60% from 2009's production, and the estate made even less wine than in 2008. When I asked Antoine what changes he has made to this domain's very traditional practices since taking over responsibility for winemaking, he told me that he's picking four or five days earlier than his father Francois did. "My father likes 14% potential alcohol but I prefer 13%," he explained. Francois never did a decanting of the must, but Antoine now does two or three hours of debourbage to eliminate reduction and bitterness, which he feels are difficult qualities for young, uninitiated tasters to deal with. He breaks certain cuvees into two parts, decanting half for a few hours but keeping all the lees with the other portion. Even after a wine has been in barrel for a year, it still contains seven or eight liters of lees, and this "dirty juice" may well partly explain why this domain has had very few problems over the years with premature oxidation. Jobard also plans to raise the percentage of new oak here from 15% to about 25%. He would like to shorten the elevage a bit, as he doesn't want to lose fruit and freshness. In fact, the 2009s were in bottle by the time of my visit: they were racked in March and bottled in early May. (Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant)

This is a fabulous set of wines from Antoine Jobard. The wines are distinguished for their sheer elegance and classiness. The harvest began on September 9. The wines were bottled in April, with a light filtration on the last 10-15 liters of each barrel.