2002 Meursault Chevalieres

Explosive, rather exotic aromas of orange and apricot, with notes of minerals and menthol. Large-scaled but backward today, and thus showing less detail than some of the foregoing wines. But this has superb material and considerable body. Best now on the slowly mounting, very long finish, which shows more subtlety of flavor than the wine's middle palate.

Yellow plums, apples, and white flowers can be discerned in the nose of the 2002 Meursault Chevalieres. Highly focused, pure, and detailed, it offers minerals, pears, and apples in its lengthy, expressive character. Drink it over the next 6-7 years. Note: Jean-Francois Coche labels five different wines as “Meursault,” the Vireuils-Dessous, Vireuils-Dessus, La Barre, Narvaux, and from an as-yet-unnamed parcel (it may be called “Chaumes”) on the top of the Meursault hill that belongs to his son Raphael. His US importer, Kermit Lynch, generally purchases only the Meursault from the Narvaux vineyard, but there is no way of knowing which “Meursault” is being purchased from the gray market. Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524