1990 Meursault Les Charmes

Lafon rarely filters his wines. Importer: A Peter Vezan Selection, various importers, including Classic Wine Imports, Boston, MA. No further tasting note.

Slightly deeper color than the earlier wines. Flamboyant, oily aromas of roasted white fruits, lichee, oak spice and marzipan. Big, oily, ripe and sweet, with a pronounced oakiness. Shows more vintage than vineyard character. Very strong acidity on the finish keeps it fresh, but there a slightly heavyhanded raw oak component that I did not detect in subsequent vintages. (Lafon has seasoned his barrels with hot water and salt in recent years, thereby softening the wood component in the finished wines.) Still young. The crop level was a high 55 hectoliters per hectare, and the alcohol is 14%.