2000 Côte-Rôtie

The talented Louis Barruol did not make his specialx000D Gigondas Cuvee Valbelle in 2000, as he did not find enough difference in stylex000D between the fruit that would go into this bottling and the rest. Not surprisingly, he rates 2000 as highlyx000D successful and very ripe, but not quite up to 1998 in quality. He is enamored of the 2001s, however. The sugars really exploded late in thex000D harvest season, and the skins ripened late," he told me. At the beginning I didn't think 2001x000D was exceptional, but the wines have really progressed with elevage. It's turning out to be a greatx000D vintage." Barruol favors Vosgesx000D oak for his Cote-Rotie and Gigondas bottlings, with the wood dried for 36x000D months and charred very slowly. The drying of the wood is critical because the quality of the winex000D really comes during the second year of elevage," he noted. (Patrick Lesec Selections, imported byx000D Classic Wine Imports, Boston, MA; The Stacole Company, Inc., Boca Raton, FL;x000D and Michel Schlumberger Wines, Healdsburg, CA)

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)