2001 Cornas Chante-Perdrix

As evidence of its higher quality standards today, thisx000D house declassified most of its cuvees parcellaires into its basic offerings inx000D 2000 to protect the quality of these latter wines. According to director/enologist Jacques Grange, the crop load inx000D 2000 was a bit too heavy to make serious, concentrated wines. Two thousand one, he says, produced a morex000D structured set of wines with good aging potential, thanks in part tox000D significantly lower yields. Grapex000D sugars were a full degree higher across the board (typically 12%, vs. 11% inx000D the earlier vintage), and the skins were correspondingly riper as well. In fact, there were more polyphenols inx000D 2001, Grange added, but longer, hotter fermentations were needed to extractx000D what the skins had to give, a comment I heard at several other Northern Rhonex000D addresses in November. With elevage thex000D better 2001s are revealing themselves as complete wines, Grange noted. Grange has focused his attention on thex000D house's white wines in the past couple of vintages. In 2001, he adopted what he described as "a Champagnex000D approach," gently pressing 150 kilos of grapes to get 100 kilos of juice,x000D in an attempt to fashion wines with more aromatic purity and definition. (Maisons Marques & Domaines, Oakland,x000D CA) Also recommended: 2000 Crozes-Hermitage Les Launes, 2000 Saint-Joseph Les Challeys. Other wines tasted: 2001 Cotes dux000D Ventoux, 2000 Cotes du Rhone Saint-Esprit.