2001 Vosne-Romanee Aux Reignots

Managing director Bernard Hervet describes the 2002 domain reds as very good wines, generally superior to those of 2001.But he admitted that it was harder to find topnotch wine to buy in 2002 than in 2001, as "too many wines in 2002 were from fruit that was picked too early, or was overextracted."Winemaker Philippe Prost added that grape sugars were generally higher on the Cote de Nuits, but that the flowering was better on the Cote de Beaune, and he finds that the latter wines have even more concentration.The young 2002s were racked between the end of June and early August.(Clicquot Inc., New York NY

According to winemaker Philippe Prost, Burgundy's 2001 vintage is particularly difficult from Volnay south, and Bouchard will offer only two Volnay crus For example, the Taillepieds and the Fremiets, which could not completely avoid a taint of hail, were declassified into a Volnay villages Bouchard carried out longer vinifications with gentler extraction in 2001 (with the exception of the Vosne-Romanee Reignots and La Romanee, which received more frequent punchdowns), with the objective of retaining freshness while avoiding hard tannins. After the first racking in the late spring of 2002, numerous 2001s went into one- or two-year-old barrels. The top Bouchard 2001s will once again be stellar. In recent weeks, a number of the house's 2000s, including a couple from the Cote de Beaune, showed more depth and definition of flavor than did their peers in a series of blind flights, no doubt due in part to the house's practice of harvesting on the early side to retain acidity.