1998 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru

"The ripest year here since 1993," says Alan Meunier about 1999, "although '93 had higher acidity and featured much lower yields. The '99s are actually in the very ripe style of 1990, with no aggressive tannins or acids. They should always be good to taste, like my '90s." On my November visit, I found that the combination of high ripeness (grape sugars in the 12%-13% range, vs. 11.5% to 12% for the '98s) and mostly new oak gives many of these wines a strong torrefaction aspect and an element of heaviness, leaving me wondering how fresh they will be once they begin to lose their baby fat with bottle aging. Incidentally, Meunier, a frank vigneron who obviously knows what he likes, referred more than once during my visit to the high acidity levels of '98 and '96. But I've long felt that the best vintages for this domain have been those that combine adequate grape sugars and firm natural acidity, rather than the superripe years. There have been no special cuvees for the American market since 1996, Meunier noted. (Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, D.C.)

Following his somewhat cooked '97s (reviewed in Issue 83), Alan Meunier has a fresher set of '98s in the works, from grapes with good sugar levels and average acidity for this domain. Following a cool maceration lasting four or five days, Meunier typically ferments for about ten days, then immediately decuves. "I try to retain the sweetness and freshness of the fruit," he explains. "Further maceration would have given the '98s a gout de marc-would have shown the dry side of the vintage." Meunier used 70% new barrels for his premier crus and 100% for his grand crus in '98. But each wine, he noted, will ultimately be a blend of medium- and high-toast barrels from five different oak sources. (Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, D.C.)