2010 Meursault Clousots

"Two thousand ten may be better than 2011, but 2011 is more my style," Patrick Javillier announced at the beginning of our tasting. His opinion may have been formed by his choice of picking dates. "Two thousand ten isn't quite my style for Meursault," he explained. "They have a great balance of acid and pH but the alcohols were 13.7% or 13.8%." He thinks he picked two or three days later than ideal and noted that there was some thunder on those days, which can have a deleterious effect on the grape skins. "I did very little batonnage with the 2010s and now I am very content, as the wines are very fresh." Javillier picked very early in 2011, beginning on August 23, stopping for a day, and then starting up again on the 25th. "There was some surmaturite but at low alcohol levels, around 12%," he said. "The early fruit was very clean but the stuff that came in at the end had less pure aromas." Javillier describes 2011 as a classic style despite the early harvest. "The 2011s taste like they were picked a month later than they actually were." (A Peter Vezan selection, www.vezanwine.wordpress.com; imported by The Wine Company, www.thewinecompany.net; also imported by Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd., www.martinscottwines.com)

Patrick Javillier switched to a pneumatic press with the 2010 vintage, and he believes the change is already paying off in wines of greater elegance and complexity. He told me he was concerned that, in earlier vintages, keeping too much of the lees caused problems with the malolactic fermentations. Javillier is high on the 2010 vintage. "There's more flesh in Meursault than there was in 2008," he explained. "Some cuvees remind me of the 1990s." Javillier bottled all of his 2009s between November of 2010 and January of 2011. They spent a bit less time on their lees than normal "because they were already rich enough." But the wines also have sound pHs and good tartaric acidity, he added. (A Peter Vezan selection, imported by The Wine Company, St. Paul, MN; also imported by Martin Scott Wines, Ltd., Lake Success, NY)