2002 Beaune Teurons 1er Cru

Geoffrey Choppin de Janvry waited until August 29 to start picking in 2003.He found that the acids remained stable and the grape sugars rose slightly in the week leading up to the harvest, but that the grape skins gained significantly in phenolic maturity.He then did a shorter-than-normal cuvaison, with fewer pigeages than usual, but with fermentation temperatures rising to a normal 33oC to 34oC."There was a lot of acidity in the tiny berries that were not crushed," noted Choppin de Janvry, "and the acidity levels actually went up during the vinification."Beginning in 2002, Choppin de Janvry has used a pneumatic press, and in 2002 he did not include the press wine in the final blends.To date, the Morot wines have always been made from destemmed fruit, but there may be some experimentation with whole clusters in 2005.There are some standout wines here in both 2003 and 2002. Choppin de Janvry aged his wines from both of these vintages in 50% new and 50% once-used barrels.(Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, D.C.)

Winemaker Geoffrey Choppin de Janvry told me he has been doing less pigeage and less extraction in general in the past few vintages to avoid getting a rustic character in his wines.He still prefers punchdowns to pumpovers, as he believes that remontage introduces too much air into the fermenting must.The domain has used a vibrating sorting table since the 2000 harvest.The first year the team eliminated about 20% of the fruit, which was affected by rot.In 2001, they discarded about 10% of the less ripe berries.Barely 5% of the clean 2002 harvest was tossed.(Robert Kacher Selections, Washington D.C.