The 2004 Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons was showing particularly well, wafting from the glass with notions of warm bread, lemon, orange oil, iodine and dried white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, supple and satiny, with racy acids, good depth at the core and a long, saline finish, it's in its prime today.

The outstanding 2004 Chablis Vaillons, one of three top-flight wines Jean-Marie Guffens fashioned from this famed premier cru, sports a nose of salty, herbal minerals. Revealing gorgeous depth of fruit, freshness, purity, and expressiveness, it is silky-textured and medium-bodied. Flavors of herbs, quinine as well as spices are highlighted within its powerful minerality and in its lengthy finish. It should be drunk over the next 5 years. Jean-Marie Guffens, who has been strongly criticized by his importers and distributors for the frank comments of his I’ve quoted in The Wine Advocate, is much more circumspect than he once was. His view of the hierarchy of Burgundy’s white wine regions in 2004 coincides with my findings, “Chablis did best because it had 15 extra days before harvest, then the Maconnais, and lastly the Cote d’Or where yields figures were in the stratosphere...2004 started terribly, except for a hugely successful flowering, then July and August were as bad as anything I’ve seen – huge rains. We were unquestionably saved by the nice weather we had in September and through October 10.” To Guffens, “The latest harvested hillside vineyards produced the finest wines.” He reported declassifying numerous batches of grapes from the water-logged flats, and having to do enormous sorting out of grapes affected by rot. Moreover, alcoholic (until March, 2006) and malo-lactic fermentations dragged on for months on end.When asked his personal thoughts on the 2004s, Guffens said, “I adore drinking this vintage,” then he screamed “Drink it!” at the top of his lungs. The following notes are in the order the wines were served, as always, and reflect Guffens’s belief that the Cote d’Or fared worse in 2004 while the Chablisien performed best.A Peter Vezan Selection, Paris fax #011-33-1-42-55-42-93; importers include North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel. (800) 266-6585; also a Patrick Lesec Selection, Paris Fax #: 011-33-4-66-37-67-23, various American importers including Bacchus Importers; tel. (800) 525-9699