2000 Meursault Les Goutte d’Or 1er Cru

There was a bit of noble rot at the time of the 2001 harvest, and the fruit was slightly lower in acidity than that of 2000," Arnaud Ente told me at the end of May. The grapes were larger but there was still 25% less crop owing to the severe green harvest Ente carried out, as well as to the crop-reducing effect of hail on a couple of his hillside parcels. Sugars were similar to those of the previous year, and Ente told me he chaptalized no more than 0.2 or 0.3%. Still, Ente prefers his 2000s today, but noted that the 2001s are still quite closed and hard to judge. Ente finds his '99s a bit heavier in style than his '01s and told me he moving toward earlier picking. I used to like superripe, lower-acid, round, rich wines, but my taste is changing." Although I do not generally provide full tasting notes on Bourgogne blanc or aligote bottlings, Ente examples are among the best that I taste each year; I particularly like the 2000 Bourgogne blanc and both cuvees in 2001.

Production was roughly similar in 2000 and 1999, but the styles of the two years differ, Ente told me at the end of May. "The '99s are riper and suaver wines, while the '00s are fruitier, more rectilinear. They're also higher in acidity and not quite as physiologically ripe as the '99s, and they can be hard to taste today, due to their strong acidity and lots of gas." Advice to bargain hunters: don't miss Ente Aligote, surely one of the two or three best in Burgundy, penetrating and pure in 1999 and remarkably glyceral and more exotic in 2000.