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Wine Description
The Story
The hard Comblanchian limestone which disappears deep underground around Nuits-Saint-Georges reappears here where, as one moves southward, red wines give way to whites. Nowhere in the Côte de Beaune does the Chardonnay grape do better than it does here. Along the village streets are a succession of little houses belonging to the vineyard workers, mixed with more imposing dwellings. The stone-work on the 53 metre-high church tower looks like it could be the work of fairies. The excellent soils were planted with vines by the monks of Cîteaux as early as 1098. A small amount of red wine is produced here, though white definitely dominates. Meursault's appellation of origin status dates from 1937.
The best soils are found at heights of 260-270 metres with exposures along an arc between east and south. They consist of Jurassic marls and marlylimestones. There are some patches of magnesian limestone. The ancient callovien limestone and argovien marls shave the crus.
There are observable but minor differences between the wines of the different " Climats " (named plots). In most cases, Meursault is greeny-gold in colour or canary yellow, leaning towards bronze as it ages. Limpid and brilliant, it sometimes exhibits silvery highlights. Its bouquet has strong aromas of ripe grapes. The young wine is redolent of toasted almonds and hazelnuts in a floral (mayflower, elder, bracken, lime, verbena) and mineral (flint) setting. Butter, honey, and citrus fruits are also present. On the palate it is rich and fat with a cheerful and appealing taste of hazelnut. Unctuousness and freshness are in silky balance. Long and structured, it needs time to mature - this is a great white wine for laying down.
Its aromatic power and exceptional balance between fat and acidity make it an aristocrat among burgundies. Unsurprisingly, it has a natural affinity with noble and fine-textured fish or meat, which it can match without overpowering. It performs a similar feat with joints of veal or poultry in white sauce, which are rendered sublime by the wine's unctuous texture and long, distinguished acidity. Still better are grilled lobster, crawfish, or king prawns in sauce - dishes whose aromatic intensity and crisp texture match the lively and supple balance of the wine. Even blue cheeses and goose liver take to it immediately.
Serving temperature : 12 to 14 °C.
Wine Information
Lafon Vintage 2001
The Weather
N.B.: Abundant spring rain and hot summer temperatures in May generated rapid growth.
* Flowering slightly later than in 1999 and 2000 and fairly mixed depending on the sector.
* July weather was dull alternating with heavy rain.
* Heavy hail storms on August 2nd affecting mainly the Volnay sector, especially Volnay Champans and Clos des Chênes ( 2/3 of the crop lost); to a lesser degree the Volnay Santenots and 1/3 of the crop in Meursault.
* August was hot and sunny and in spite of the hail, the vines remained very healthy. By the end of August we began to see a marked difference from sector to sector:
o the vines damaged by hail yielded little and had difficulty ripening owing to stress and lack of leaves.
o the undamaged vines produced an excellent crop, homogenous and healthy.
September was dull with a little rain. Harvesting had to be delayed in order to reach satisfactory ripeness.
The Harvest
We finally decided to harvest on September 20th starting with the younger white vines (Charmes and Genevrières) and the young Pinots (Volnay Santenots). The degrees were satisfactory (between 12.5° and 13.2° for the whites and 12.5° for the reds. We then alternated harvesting reds and whites in the same day.
The condition of the whites undamaged by hail was perfect. The degrees ranged from 12.5° to 13.5° and even 13.8° in Montrachet.
The Pinot was more problematic and required thorough sorting, initially on the vine as grey rot had developed ( approx. 10%), and secondly in the winery to eliminate the drried out berries resulting from the hail.
We finished the harvest with the hail damaged Chardonnay in order to allow it more time to mature. The vines were finally harvested with a potential 12.5°.
Harvesting ended on September 30th.
Yields were low in Volnay, between 15 and 25 hl/ha, about 25 hl/ha for hail affected Village Meursault, and correct elswhere for Chardonnay (the average being 40 hl/ha) and 40 hl/ha in Monthélie.
A year of average production, roughly 15% less than in 2000.
Vinification
Before sorting we were worried about the reds, however, all went well spending a relatively long time in the vats (about 3 weeks), with a light, 1/2° chaptalization at the end.
Beautiful colour extraction, high acidity and a higher degree of malic acid than in previous years. Tannins were present though silky and high in quality.
Whites posed no problem, the juice was clear and fermentation long and even. Some wines were chaptalized by 1/3 to 1/2°, especially the Village Meursault.
The Wines
The reds : a lovely colour, intense and healthy. The fruit is powerful and quite refined. The tannins are present and pleasant. At the moment, before malolactic fermentation, acidity is high but should become normal later on. They are similar to the '91 and' 93 in their structure and '93 in their finesse and fresh fruitiness.
The whites : A lovely colour, intense and healthy. The fruit is powerful and quite refined. The tannins are present and pleasant. At the moment, before malolactic fermentation, acidity is high but should become normal later on. They are similar to the '91 and' 93 in their structure and '93 in their finesse and fresh fruitiness.
Bottling
Whites
* Clos de la Barre July 2003
* Désirée April 2003
* Genevrières April 2003
* Charmes July 2003
* Perrières July 2003
* Meursault Village May 2003
* Montrachet July 2003
* Puligny Champgain April 2003
Reds
* Monthélie les Duresses April 2003
* Volnay Village April 2003
* Volnay Santenots June 2003
Vintage 2001
2001 VINTAGE in Burgundy
A promising start to the new millennium...
Growing season and weather conditions
The winter, during which the vines lay dormant, was a mild one.
The first signs of bud-burst came early but wintry conditions in April accompanied by frosts in the most exposed vineyards slowed down the start of the growing season.
Spring, from May onwards, was marked by periods of fine sunny weather.
The first flowers appeared, precociously, at the beginning of June, but the process was then slowed by a recurrence of low temperatures. Flowering was thus spread out over a period of some two weeks and the resulting unevenness in the progress of maturation persisted until harvest-time.
The natural weight of the crop burden led many growers to resort to green thinning ("vendanges en vert") - cutting out superfluous grape bunches at an early stage to ensure a harvest lower in volume but higher in quality.
Maturation and harvest
July was cool and rainy. Summer only really arrived in August with sometimes scorching heat and high levels of recorded sunshine. Violent rain- and hail-storms caused significant damage to the vines in some localities.
Maturation proceeded under favourable circumstances and the physical condition of the grapes remained good.
A slight drop in temperature at the beginning of September together with some light rain meant that in choosing the right moment to begin picking, growers needed to be alert and exercise great judgement (given uneven maturation and changeable weather conditions), and to make the best use of dry and sunny periods.
The need to wait, in some cases, for the moment of optimum ripeness meant that the harvest period was prolonged. Maturity was variable with sugar levels ranging from moderate to very good, good levels of acidity, and variable polyphenol levels in the red wines.
Estimated yield totals 1.5 million hectolitres, a slightly lower volume than the 2000 and 2001 harvests.
Vinification and character of the wines
Vinification of the white wines proceded in a lesisurely manner and without incident. The red wines demanded more attention in order to extract the maximum potential from their colouring matter and tannins.
As of mid-November, the white wines are fine and straightforward, well-balanced with good concentration and well-developed fruit backed by firm acidity.
The reds are vividly and intensely coloured. They have a well-defined structure thanks to firm tannins and a good level of acidity. They are meaty, with agreeable and expressive fruit.