2006 Meursault

Jean-Marie Guffens told me he tried to make "fresh, natural, unwoody wines" in 2007. Potential alcohol levels were around 13% and no chaptalization was necessary. "The malic acid went down and the tartaric went up. The freshness of the wines comes from tartaric acidity, not lactic. The wines will be pleasant and minerally, like the '04s." Guffens went on to say that many '07s from fruit harvested too early are quite high in malic acidity and are likely to oxidize quickly. "When the fresh fruit goes away, the wines will go lactic, like Camembert, because malic acidity is unstable." (A Peter Vezan selection; importers include The Stacole Company, Boca Raton, FL; North Berkeley Wines, Berkeley, CA; and Ideal Wines, Medford, MA)

Jean-Marie Guffens believes that expensive white wine from the Cote d'Or is for rich collectors with limited imaginations, and that many domains are coasting on reputations made years ago. For years, he has maintained that Chablis and the Maconnais offer far better value for wine drinkers. Guffens described a whirlwind harvest in 2006, in which his team raced from the Maconnais to Chablis to the Cote d'Or to pick fruit before it lost its freshness. The Cote d'Or fruit was brought in in barely two and a half days, between September 20 and 22, according to Guffens. Still, all of the '06s have alcohol of 13.5% or higher. Incidentally, Guffens prefers 2006-and 2004 as well-to 2005, which he believes was widely affected by hydric stress. "Many wines are hot, and some are already losing their fruit," he opined. He prefers both the Maconnais and Chablis in the 2005 vintage, and to prove his case he poured two of his own Domaine Guffens-Heynen wines for me following his '05s from the Cote de Beaune. As the notes below indicate, he made his point, but at the expense of the Verget Cote de Beaune offerings. (A Peter Vezan selection; importers include The Stacole Company, Boca Raton, FL; North Berkeley Wines, Berkeley, CA; and Ideal Wines, Medford, MA) Also recommended: Meursault (86).