1997 Vosne-Romanee

Patrice Rion made just half as much wine in '97 as in the copious '96 vintage, and had bottled his '97s in the weeks prior to my late-January visit. This is a good vintage with good sugars, says Rion: like a blend of '85 and '89. While the pHs are high, the wines have enough tannins to age. Rion kept the wines longer on their lees to enrich them and maintain freshness, and didn't rack until November. I did not taste the full range of '96s, but those that I did sample prove that this is a superb vintage for Rion. He compares them to his '90s, but doesn't believe they will close down in the same way. Rion habit of doing a batonnage prior to the start of the malolactic fermentation may have helped to enrich the '96s; the early stirring of the lees also seems to prevent later problems of reduction, adds Rion.