1998 Meursault Les Narvaux

Yves Boyer describes the '98 and '97 vintages as very close in quality. The '97s, he says, are a bit more minerally, a bit more structured than the '98s, but have similar acidity levels, while the '98s appear more tendre today and are tasting well early. The earlier vintage has a bit more material, he adds, and thus may be a better bet for aging. Boyer tries to pick on the early side to retain acidity, and then chaptalizes a bit to enrich the wines. The wines bottled without filtration for North Berkeley Imports are made in a higher percentage of new barrels-with the used barrels generally just one or two years old. Both sets of wines are bottled before the next vintage. As at most of the addresses I visited this spring, the malolactic fermentations were finished, but the wines had not yet been racked. (A Peter Vezan selection; importers include North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; Michael Skurnik Wines, Westbury, NY; Vintner Select, Cincinnati, OH; and Import!, Madison, WI)