2014 Meursault Village

Always an early picker, Arnaud Ente told me that 2014 is his favorite vintage other than 2010, adding that the ‘14s are suaver wines and even more expressive than the ‘10s. Ente’s ‘14s finished with healthy acidity levels of around 4.5 grams per liter, with low pHs. They have the constitution to age. Incidentally, Ente admitted that he had some problems with premature oxidation early on—from 1996 through 2002. But he’s much more confident about the staying power of recent vintages as he’s bottling his wines with considerably lower levels of dissolved oxygen.

Ente has also continued to cut back on his use of new oak owing to his experience with Alsace Rieslings, which he loves (fans of Ente's wines will hardly find this surprising). He's also making greater use of larger foudres and stainless steel cuves, not to mention glass containers.