2002 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

Like a number of his colleagues in Burgundy Jean-Pierre Cournut insisted that 2003 was not a drought year for vines with deep roots. The wines, he says, are fat, buttery and full, with plenty of acidity for their sugar. Cournut acidified at harvest time, then made additional adjustments at the end of the alcoholic fermentations, during the batonnage All of the wines had finished their malolactic fermentations and been sulfited at the time of my visit. They are thick with fruit without coming off as cooked-excellent examples of the potential richness of the vintage. My scores may prove to be conservative. (Domaines et Saveurs/Jeanne-Marie de Champs; importers include Glazer's Wholesale Distributing, Dallas, TX; Fine Vines, Melrose Park, IL; The Wine House, San Francisco, CA; Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; and The Country Vintner, Oilville, VA)

Jean-Pierre Cournut had just finished an extensive cellar expansion, and we tasted the bottled 2001 in an airy new underground space. Cournut loves his 2000 whites for their balance but also agreed with my opinion that 2001 may have favored the wines of Chassagne-Montrachet over those of Puligny and Meursault. There's no question that we were less affected by some of the August thunderstorms in 2001," he noted. Cournut's 2001s showed fairly tight, and clearly benefitted from aeration. Actually, they become quite fat and buttery with time in a carafe," said Cournut. Cournut's 2002s look to be strong examples of the vintage. Grape sugars were high (the sugar fermentations were difficult), but the concentration of the fruit occurred without any loss of acidity, according to Cournut. He used a bit more SO2 than usual at the end of the malolactic fermentations for fear of getting too much volatile acidity. The malos were mostly finished at the time of my visit, and the barrels I sampled had been sulfited but not yet racked. (Domaines et Saveurs/Jeanne-Marie de Champs; importers include Glazer's Wholesale Distributing, Dallas, TX; Fine Vines, Melrose Park, IL; The Wine House, San Francisco, CA; Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; and The Country Vintner, Oilville, VA)