Niellon, like many of his forthright colleagues, described the 1997 whites as "delicious and easy to drink." No hyperbole at this address. In the corner of Michel Niellon's cellar stands a barrel on which he places the bottles he serves visitors. When I arrived for my annual tasting, Niellon did what he always does, he moved those bottles to the floor, and pulled new, unopened ones from the stacks awaiting shipping. To my shock they were painfully closed and reeked of sulfur. After some prodding, Niellon acquiesced and allowed me to taste from the wine that had been opened for a few hours. Readers take note: these comments are from a bottled wine that had been opened and had benefited from exposure to air. Sadly, Niellon plans to rip out his parcel of Batard-Montrachet after the 2000 harvest. Planted in 1928, these old vines have produced numerous stunning wines. The 1997 offers hyper-ripe pear and apple aromas, as well as a highly concentrated and extracted core of fruit. This is an extremely profound wine, with intense honeyed fruit cake flavors, as well as an opulent, viscous, and almost flabby texture. If it had better balance there is no telling how high my score could have gone. Drink it over the next 5-6 years. Importer: Seagram Chateau & Estate Wines Company, New York, NY; tel (212) 572-7725.