2000 Puligny-Montrachet Les Levrons

Increasingly, Patrick Javillier has come to prefer his late bottling (carried out the second March, rather than the first September, after the harvest). As a result, he bottled 80% of his 2000 crop in March of 2002 (these wines are labelled "Cuvee Speciale") and expects to bottle all of his 2001s late. The early bottling is better during the wine first two or three years," Javillier explained, "but for those who cellar their wine at least two years, the later bottling is clearly superior." Still, Javillier was concerned that the 2000s bottled this past March were shutting down at the time of my visit, and was concerned that they'd seem less pure on the nose than the wines bottled last September. Beginning with the 2000 vintage, Javillier has made a point of harvesting his south-facing vines in Corton-Charlemagne earlier, as he believes this is necessary for acid retention. He told me that he found the '99 example too heavy. I find Javillier most recent wines finer, less "worked," than those of past years. (A Peter Vezan selection; importers include North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; Vintner Select, Cincinnati, OH; and Arborway Imports, Lexington, MA; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, Cleveland, OH and Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd., Lake Success, NY)

Prior to my tasting this year, Javillier gave me a brief lecture about the aging curve of his wines, using a hand-drawn graphic to demonstrate their evolution prior to and following the bottling. His point was that the newly bottled set of wines goes through a distinct dip from May through August (exactly the time of year when I am always tasting them) before beginning to recover from the mise But, with all due respect to Javillier, I liked the '99s anyway and found their aromas to be particularly clear and complex. Javillier describes the '99s as structured and classic. He views the 2000s, for which he has done less stirring of the lees, as more fruity wines, with alcohol levels a bit lower than those of '99 but with similar acidity. Later in our tasting, he described the '99s as "between good and very good," and the '00s as "between very good and exceptional, a bit like the '92s." Neither recent year was characterized by a tendency toward oxidation, although Javillier stirred the lees less to avoid "losing the fruit" in 2000. (A Peter Vezan selection; importers include North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; Vintner Select, Cincinnati, OH; and Arborway Imports, Lexington, MA; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, Cleveland, OH)