Exhibiting gravel, ripe white fruit, spice and smoke scents, the Pouilly-Fuisse Les Crays Vieilles Vignes Reserve is a more austere but no less outstanding wine than the En Buland. Its thickly-textured character coats the palate with minerals, chalk, stone, and tangy citrus flavors. This massively expansive, focused, and full-bodied gem also possesses an incredibly long and pure finish. Projected maturity: 2001-2006. The score, noted on a range and in parentheses, indicates that the wine was tasted from barrel.Daniel Barraud, a hard-working, intelligent and dedicated man, is one of the Maconnais' finest producers. He believes that his 1996s are "more powerful, both in acidity and ripeness" than his '95s and are "magnificently precise and clean." I was blown away by Barraud's '95s (reviewed in issue #110), finding both his En Buland (91) and La Verchere (90+) to be outstanding, but his 1996s are even better. Moreover, these wines are excellent values.Barraud is not a believer in batonnage; his wines obtain their richness from late harvests and extended lees contact in barrel (as opposed to the traditional Maconnais vats). He neither fines nor filters his offerings.Importer: "Reserve" wines are imported exclusively by North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel (510) 848-8910; the other wines are Peter Vezan Selections (Paris Fax # 011-33-1-42654293), various importers including Skurnik in NY.