2007 Meursault Les Narvaux

From a single parcel (partly in young vines) the Michelot 2007 Meursault Narvaux features apple, peach, Persian melon, and high-toned herbal essences in the nose and on a juicy; satisfyingly bright; chalk-, salt-, and alkali-inflected palate. What this lacks in textural richness vis a vis some of the other wines in its collection is more than made up for by its vivacity, pronounced minerality, and finishing refreshment. I suspect this will perform well for 4-5 years. Jean-Francois Mestre (Bernard Michelot’s son-in-law) – who now bottles under “Domaine Michelot” some of the wines formerly bottled under “Mestre-Michelot” – was among the latest harvesters I encountered, and did not bring in his last grapes until after mid-month. He achieved more than 13% natural alcohol in all of his crus, and in his words performed “very little” chaptalization. Michelot did more working of the lees than in 2006 in an attempt to fatten the wines, which as a group I found a bit lacking in definition or intensity when compared to those of that previous vintage. Mestre is working in the direction of using more demi-muids rather than barriques, and a portion of each cru is in tank at any given time to preserve freshness. Mestre, incidentally, is among the very few Cote d’Or growers to have committed a substantial share of his production – beginning with this 2007 vintage – to bottling under screwcap. Represented by Russell Herman, World Wine Source (various importers), Berkeley Heights, NJ; tel. (908) 771 9082