Produced from 60 to 70-year-old vines on steep slopes, the toasted oak, mineral, and stone-scented 2001 Macon-La Roche Vineuse Vieilles Vignes de Sommere has outstanding breadth, depth, and length. Its oak-imbued character reveals a powerful core of fruit (mostly lemons and pears) that is intermingled with minerals. Toasted wood flavors linger throughout this offering's impressively long finish. My score will appear overly conservative if this wine absorbs its oak over the next 2-3 years. Drink it before 2007. "Given what Mother Nature did to us, the 2001 vintage cannot be great." With that pronouncement, Jean-Marie Guffens, the most forthright producer in Burgundy, began his discourse on the vintage.Overall, Guffens views 2001 as being at the quality level of 1998, with Chablis fairing the worst. "Officially, I score the 2001 Chablis at 12/20, but only after having noticed that everybody gets really angry with me when I say the truth," said Guffens with a sarcastic laugh. He later added that he would score the 2001 whites from the Cote de Beaune 15/20 and those from the Maconnais 14/20.The season was difficult throughout Burgundy from the flowering onwards according to Guffens. "This was a year, unlike 1999 and 2000, that severely punished those with high yields." His approach was to purchase only the finest lots he could find (as well as those he had to acquire in order to maintain allocations), and resell to other negociants those that weren't up to his standards. "I sold back 30% of what I'd purchased, at lower prices than what I had paid.."To Guffens, 2001 is a vintage to drink early. "Those with high yields and/or those who harvested early have unripe acidity, which ages very poorly, those who harvested later had low acidities, there seemed to be no middle ground in this vintage." In response to this dilemma, Guffens elected to bottle all his 2001s earlier than usual, "to trap the fruit in the bottle."Whereas many producers in France are feeling the crunch of the sluggish world economy, Guffens announced that "business is good at Verget, because we are producing less wine, have lowered our prices, and told our importers to do the same." He went on to add that Verget's business model, unlike those of traditional negociants, is to never hold stocks of wine. "We make what we can sell, sell it, then make what we can sell. We are not in the storage business."A Peter Vezan Selection (Paris Fax # 011-33-1-42654293), various American importers, including North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 848-8910

The 1999 Macon-La Roche Vineuse Vieilles Vignes de Sommere was produced from 80-year old vines, harvested at 13.5% natural potential alcohols "far from the allowable yields." It reveals lively mineral and floral aromas and has excellent depth, concentration, and a silky texture. This light to medium-bodied, nicely detailed, and intense wine reveals demure spice flavors throughout its personality and lovely finish. Drink it over the next 4-5 years. A Peter Vezan Selection (Paris Fax # 011-33-1-42654293), importers include: North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel (510) 848-8910, and a Patrick Lesec Selection (Paris Fax # 011-33-1-42843822), various American importers, including Bacchus Importers (800) 525-9699.