2001 Meursault Village

Jadot believes in making Burgundies with very low levels of residual sugar. This allows for a better development of flavors in the bottle," explains winemaker Jacques Lardiere. A wine that's dry now will be more mellow later. Chardonnay in France must be dry; wines with two grams or more of residual sugar are manipulated wines that will age badly." Lardiere complained at the outset about rot in 2001, especially in vineyards that Jadot does not control and harvest; he likes these wines more today. Indeed, I was impressed by the way the grand crus in particular show an inner-mouth energy, stylishness and accuracy to the site that are rare for the vintage. Lardiere, who normally blocks a portion of the malolactic fermentations, did not use this technique more than usual in 2001 due to his initial fear of having too many unripe grapes. But it was necessary to leave some malic acidity to give grip on the back of the wine to replace the vintage's lack of natural power," he explained.Incidentally, Lardiere is not making any extravagant claims for the quality of the 2002 vintage. The wines are a bit fragile and lacking in energy, he told me. The vintage cannot be great due to the irregular growing season." I will report on these wines next year.