Dominique Lafon was not pleased with his Meursault Goutte D'Or* when I visited him in November and was considering blending it in with his regular Meursault cuvee if it did not evolve properly. While excellent, and potentially outstanding, I can understand Lafon's concern as it does not appear to be at the level of his other premier crus. A tightly wound, buttered popcorn-scented nose gives way to a wide, broad, expressive, creamy, and medium-to-full-bodied personality with toasty minerals and white peaches. At the time of my tasting this wine's personality seemed to tail off abruptly. Projected maturity: 2000-2004. The rating, with the range of scores in parentheses, indicates the wine was tasted from cask, not bottle. Dominique Lafon performed more batonnage than usual on his 1996s, "to give them more richness," he said. However, unlike some other vignerons, Lafon abandons the practice when the malos start because he wants his wines to be protected by the carbon dioxide gas that is a by product of a wine's malo-lactic fermentation. Lafon's yields were between 35 and 45 hectoliters/hectare, demonstrating his dedication to quality in this potentially high-yielding vintage. Importer: Classic Wine Imports, Boston, MA; tel (617) 731-6644.