2004 Beaune 1er Cru

Michel Lafarge told me that he did a pass through the vines to eliminate the worst of the hail-affected fruit, then harvested in two passes, which made it much easier to vinify with only the healthy material. The fruit was completely destemmed but not crushed, and the Lafarges then did their normal extraction. The malos were late, and the wines had been racked for the first time between May and September. Lafarge's top 2003 cuvees, which were not acidified but possess huge tannic support, are likely to be long-lived. These wines were aged in all used barrels because Lafarge wanted to preserve terroir and felt that the wines did not need wood tannins. (A Becky Wasserman Selection, imported by Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd. , Lake Success, NY; Wines Unlimited, New Orleans, LA; Vinalia Imports, Los Angeles, CA)