1998 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru

Patrice Rion describes his '98s as similar to the '97s in terms of crop level (typically 26 to 28 hectoliters per hectare, nearly 30% less than average for this estate) and grape sugars, but the new vintage is more tannic and a bit higher in acidity. The pHs in the post-malo '98s are in the 3.5-3.6 range, with no acidification, Rion told me. "We use only compost for the soil, rather than chemical fertilizers, and today we have enough acidity." Rion did a lot of batonnage in '98 "to break the hardness of the wines, to get something sweeter and more complex." Happily, he added, the '98s have not been especially reductive, and thus he has been able to use minimal doses of sulfur. In recent years, Rion has been removing leaves at the beginning of September up to shoulder level, or about a foot higher than previously, and the result has been riper, sweeter grapes with more color. The ultimate aim of the current work in the vines, he says, is not to chaptalize at all. Notes on finished 1997s appeared in Issue 83.