1998 Puligny-Montrachet

"Nineteen ninety-nine has good gras " Pernot told me at the end of June, just before leaving for his summer house off France Atlantic Coast. "The wines give the impression of low acidity," he explained, "but their pHs are actually healthy. It's tempting to say that the '99s will age quickly, but maybe not. Certainly the wines will please my clients." This was a huge crop, up there in volume with 1982 and 1973. "Many growers compare it to '73," Pernot noted, "but '73 was more meager, more acid than '99." As always, Pernot's wines had been racked by early spring and were easy to taste in June. It's always a treat to compare Pernot's two grand crus: the Bienvenue can be sexy and appealing early on, but the richer, brooding, more backward Batard often makes the more impressive bottle in the long run. And they are strikingly different wines: Pernot pointed out that two of his three parcels of Batard are in Chassagne-Montrachet, "quite far from my Bienvenue." (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY; Robert Chadderdon Selections, New York, NY; also a Peter Vezan Selection, numerous importers)