2005 Meursault Perrières 1er Cru

According to enologist Nadine Gublin, the chardonnay grapes in 2006 were not ripe as of September 10, and the estate waited. They ultimately began on the 20th and picked all the chardonnay in just three days, as the grapes turned golden in a hurry. Grape sugars went up quickly, said Gublin, with the fruit coming in at 13% to 14.5% potential alcohol, or about the same as the previous year. "There was a bit of noble rot," said Gublin, "but it was more a matter of surmaturite." Note that most of the 2006s were at the tail end of their malolactic fermentations, or had just finished. The Corton-Charlemagne, though, was barely halfway through its secondary fermentation. (Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY) Also recommended: Meursault Clos de Mazeray (86).

Martin Prieur considers 2004 one of the estate's "great white wine years, along with 1992."Vintage 2005, he went on, saw a perfect, easy harvest with no damaged grapes."The reds have great density, like the 1990s, but we were less impressed by the whites at the beginning, probably because we loved the 2004s.In fact, it's still easier to taste the 2004s now, so it's very early to make a judgment on the 2005s."Potential alcohols were in the very high 13.5% to 14.3% range in 2005, and the team has done much less stirring of the lees this year.I provide notes below on only those wines that had finished their malolactic fermentations when I visited the estate.A few samples, though, still had a bit of sugar to burn through.Incidentally, a few of the 2004s I tasted in early June were still in barrel.