1999 Côte-Rôtie

In his cool, late-ripening corner of the Gigondas appellation, Louis Barruol prefers the 2000 vintage to 1999 for its ripeness. Yields were full, even in the estate's old vines, said Barruol, "and this prevented the vintage from being a great year like 1998. But Nature was perfect this year: rain at the end of August came just when we needed it, and we had very good conditions in early October for the harvest." However, there will be no Gigondas Cuvee Valbelle in 2000: "The cuvee classique is very good, but our best cuvees were not quite up to the quality of '98 or '95," said Barruol, who maintains a particularly high standard for this special bottling. (Patrick Lesec Selections, imported by Classic Wine Imports, Boston, MA; The Stacole Company, Inc., Boca Raton, FL; Associated Wine Distributors, American Canyon, CA; and Michel Schlumberger Wines, Healdsburg, CA)

By coincidence, I went directly from a tasting with Yves Gras at Domaine Santa-Duc to Louis Barruol at the Chateau de Saint-Cosme, proceeding from vines with port-like ripeness to examples made from what Barruol describes as "an especially cool, late-ripening spot." These are two of the most talented producers in the Gigondas appellation, but their wines could hardly be more different. Gras includes a good bit of mourvedre in his Hautes Garrigues cuvee while Barruol doesn't own a single mourvedre vine, as his soils would not ripen the fruit adequately. Syrah, on the other hand, does well at Saint-Cosme. The fruit lacked a bit of maturity in '99, said Barruol, and significant triage was necessary. He will not offer a 1999 Cuvee Valbelle, and the basic cuvee will be a much stronger wine as a result of this decision. Barruol macerates his Gigondas for 40 days, with the stems, punching down the cap, pumping over and carrying out periodic delestage a process whereby the juice is drained from the tank, then poured back over the solids]. The malolactic fermentation is done in barriques and the press wine actually finishes its alcoholic fermentation in barrels. Barruol is one of a growing number of Southern Rhone producers who believe that grenache is a highly aromatic variety that should be handled gently and aged like pinot noir. Accordingly, he racks his wine only when it assembled after the fermentation and then not again until it is being prepared for the bottling. The Condrieu and the Cote-Roties noted below are negociant wines. (Patrick Lesec Selections, imported by Classic Wine Imports, Boston, MA; The Stacole Company, Inc., Boca Raton, FL; and Michel-Schlumberger Wines Ltd., Healdsburg, CA)