1999 Mazy-Chambertin Grand Cru

The 20th century went out with a bang for red Burgundy lovers, with the 1999 vintage producing copious quantities of excellent to outstanding wine.

From the outset, the 1999 red Burgundies offered a rare combination of charm and power. Most of the better wines were balanced and alluring from the start, but they are evolving very slowly and still have plenty of life ahead of them. While many of the ‘99s I sampled with the producers this winter have gone through sullen stages in bottle, most of them have launched into their periods of peak drinkability. If you own these wines – and especially if you chose wisely at the outset – you will be amply rewarded.

"There were the beginnings of rot from July onward," said Corinne Rousseau of the 2000 growing season, "but we did a lot of green harvesting and then severe selection in the vines at the time of harvest. At first we thought 2000 would be a simply fruity vintage for drinking young," she added, "but the wines have been developing more structure as they age, and it now appears that they have more backbone than years like '92 and '97." In fact, these 2000s were showing gloriously the day I sampled them, as aromatically complex as any set of 2000s I tasted in November. Rousseau describes the fruit in '99 as black cherry, while in '00 it tends toward raspberry.

Potential alcohol levels at this estate were in the very high 13.0-13.5% range in '99, which meant that none of the grand crus required chaptalization, Charles Rousseau told me in November. The yields were full, but not at all excessive (just 40 hectoliters per hectare for the Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques and the Clos de Beze), and in any event, Rousseau noted, they were a good 10% to 15% lower than in '96. The cool nights in the period leading up to the '99 harvest helped the grapes retain acidity, Rousseau added, with the result that relatively little acidification was needed during the vinification. The wines showed very well in November; even the Gevrey villages grabbed my attention. The '98s were also impressive from barrel a year ago, but a few of my samples of the finished wines did not quite deliver on their early promise. The Rousseau wines have established a strong track record for aging gracefully, so it possible the '98s are just going through an awkward stage.