1998 Puligny-Montrachet Combettes

The Carillons did not bottle their '98 crus until March of this year, and Fran篩s Carillon believes that wines such as the domain Perrieres and Referts will need at least five years of bottle aging. "The gras of the vintage is currently blocking the acidity in the '98s," he noted, adding that he expects the wines to remain closed for a while due to the concentration that came from very low yields. The '98s, he adds, have fat but less of the mineral character for which Puligny-Montrachets are prized; they also finished with relatively low levels of residual sugar-typically 1.0 to 1.2 grams per liter, vs. 1.3 to 1.8 for the '99s. The estate's '99s are actually lower in acidity than the '98s, but also have slightly lower pHs. The result is wines with "more Bourgogne character, more finesse than the '98s." Carillon describes them as more floral and more approachable early than the '98s, but is confident they will age well.

Francois Carillon believes the '97s will shut down within the next year and then will be best to drink three or four years down the road-but a bit later for the top crus. Grape sugars were typically between 12.5% and 13%, although the Referts reached 13.8%. Carillon describes his '98s as round and fat, perhaps midway between '95 and '92 in style, but with a bit less material than either of these previous vintages. Still, he adds, they are higher in acidity and slightly more concentrated than the '97s. A couple of the Carillons' sites were hit hard by frost in the spring of '98. At the beginning of the harvest, the fruit was a bit less ripe than that of 1997, but sugars mounted quickly, and the last fruit came in at around 13.6%.