Javillier fashioned two cuvees of the 1997 Meursault Narvaux but I was only allowed to taste the Mise Speciale. Behind a touch of reduction dense nuts and minerals could be discerned in this wine's nose. On the palate it is layered, crammed with sweet white fruit, medium-to-full-bodied, and intensely rich yet balanced. It is a highly impressive offering that finishes strongly with impressions of spiced and baked pears. Plateau of maturity: 2000-2006. Importers: David Shiverick, Langdon Shiverick, Cleveland, OH; tel (216) 861-6800, Wines Ltd, Hanover, MD; tel (800) 762-0662; and a Peter Vezan Selection (Paris Fax # 011-33-1-42654293), importers include: North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel (510) 848-8910.

The Meursault Narvaux Mise Speciale is a lusher, more luxurious and deeper version of its regular cuvee. Elegant and complex aromas of white flowers, earth, nuts and stones give way to an extraordinary combination of fat, ripe, oily-textured, and supple fruit within a racy, and refined personality. Expansive, soft and mouth-coating, this tangy red cherry and mineral-flavored wine is also focused, crisp, and vivacious. To top it all off, its finish is exceedingly long, pure, and defined. It should be at its peak between 2000 and 2006. The rating, with the range of scores in parentheses, indicates the wine was tasted from cask, not bottle. What's Javillier's spin on the 1996 vintage? "It has the most perfect balance between body, acid, fruit, extract, and purity in my lifetime." Importers: David Shiverick, Langdon Shiverick, Cleveland, OH; (216) 861-6800, and a Peter Vezan Selection (Paris Fax # 011-33-1-42654293), importers include: North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel (510) 848-8910.