1998 Meursault Les Perrières 1er Cru

Thierry Matrot rates 1999 as very good but not exceptional for chardonnay, a big crop that displays the floral side of '73 along with the ripeness and structure of '90. "We had six weeks of heat during the late summer of '99," he told me. "With plenty of water in the soil, this led to explosive growth." But Matrot described the '99 reds as great: "a huge crop too, but with superb structure and color. My father is in his 60th vintage, and he has never seen pinot of this ripeness and quality at such a high crop level." Matrot, like a few of his colleagues in Meursault, describes the '98s as "too concentrated, and lacking finesse. There was a loss of terroir character, but due to their sound acidity there will also be some spectacular wines ten years down the road." In fact, Matrot added, it was the acidity that ultimately saved the vintage.

Just after I had heard several Meursault vignerons complain about the difficult conditions of 1998, and the mixed results of their vinifications, I arrived to taste with Thierry Matrot, only to be told that the 1998 vintage here produced densely packed, rich, fresh wines with very good ripe acidity. Matrot picked his crus late in '98 ("with Franois Jobard"), after the rain, but said he had little problem with rot. My tastings did, in fact, show a highly promising set of '98s: so much for vintage generalizations in Burgundy. These wines will give pleasure early, but acidity levels are better than those of '97. Matrot was less enamored of his '97s, which he considers overripe. The wines have the same low acidity and high sugars as '94, said Matrot. "With its flavors of pear and honey, it not my style of vintage. The '94s are going apricotty," Matrot added. "I like that in viognier but not in chardonnay from here." Matrot did a much shorter than normal fermentation in '97 and bottled the wines a bit earlier than usual.