must and thus concentrates it). pHs were a little higher than ideal so there were also slight acid corrections for a few wines; these adjustments appear to have been deftly done. The malolactic fermentations were late in starting and also quite slow to finish, which permitted the wines to feed off their lees for a longer than normal period. All the premiers and grands crus saw 100% new oak except for the Murgers and the Chaumes. The wines will be bottled in January and February. The Méo 99s are clearly better than his disappointing 97s and slightly better than his very good 98s. With the exception of the Bourgogne and the two villages wines, all Méo's 99s show dark colors, excellent flavor definition and in contrast to certain vintages, have absorbed the 100% new oak almost completely. At the upper end of the range in particular, there is excellent transparency of terroir. In sum, this is a very strong set of wines. Note: 70-year-old vines. Curiously, the wine is sometimes labeled as Clos Rognets and other times simply as Corton yet the vineyard source has always been the same Super ripe pinot fruit goes with the incredible 14.4% natural alcohol. This is massively constructed and incredibly rich yet never heavy or plodding. To be sure, it is hardly delicate but if your taste runs to big Burgundies, then this is for you.
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