For a considerable time the Javillier family was content to act as grape and juice brokers, selling their purchases to major negociants such as Chartron et Trebuchet and Drouhin. After Patrick Javillier became enamored with the wines of such highly talented winemakers as Guffens-Heynen and Coche-Dury, he overhauled the estate's winemaking philosophy. Readers who have tasted this property's insipid, watery, thin, sterile wines of the past are in for a shock when they taste the 1991s and 1992s. In contrast to what I wrote in my book Burgundy, the wines are now 100% barrel-fermented. Moreover, there is considerable lees contact and yields have been restricted. Following in the footsteps of Coche-Dury and Comte Lafon, the whites are bottled unfiltered.
The 1992s are less evolved aromatically, but with 6 more months in the bottle, they may merit higher scores. They all possess superb depth, admirable clarity and richness, adequate acidity, and superb, rich, well-balanced, lusty finishes. The most developed and precocious is the 1992 Meursault-Les Cloux. It boasts sweet, unctuously-textured fruit, fine balance, and a nutty, honeyed nose. A Peter Vezan Selection, various importers.