2002 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Procès

Pascal Lachaux believes that vintages 2002 and 2003 reflect the culmination of his improved vineyard work.Like a number of his neighbors on the Cote de Nuits, Lachaux lost some crop in 2003 to caterpillars that ate the buds at the end of April.Ultimately, he made half of a usual crop, with even the yields in his village vines in the tiny 20 hectoliters-per-hectare range. Lachaux was especially sensitive to the high ratio of skins to juice in 2003.He told me he did no pigeage at all for fear of getting hard tannins. He acidified the musts lightly to protect against bacterial problems during the fermentation. The 2003s were racked last July, and were slated to be racked again at the end of November, before going into cuve in advance of a bottling in January.Lachaux compared the fat of vintage 2003 to 1971, but noted that the '71s had even higher sugars.Incidentally, Lachaux told me that 2002 is the best vintage he has made to date."Nineteen ninety-nine is also great, but it doesn't have the same balance," he added.(Represented by Russell Herman, Berkeley Heights, NJ; imported by V.O.S. Selections, Inc., New York, NY; also a Peter Vezan selection; imported by The Stacole Co., Boca Raton, FL; and Import!, Madison, WI)

There were two generations of flowers in 2002," said Pascal Lachaux, "and the second one was all millerande We did a green harvest on the larger first generation fruit, and ended up with a crop level of just 35 to 38 hectoliters per hectare, or about 12% to 15% lower than in 2001.This helped to give more fat, color, ripeness and concentration."Lachaux did a week-long cold maceration at a chilly 5oC prior to the beginning of the fermentations.The wines that were not racked until July will probably not be bottled until the early spring of 2004, said Lachaux, while those that were racked in the spring of 2003 will be bottled earlier.Lachaux referred to his 2002s as "my best vintage yet for fat, richness and balance."(Represented by Russell Herman, Berkeley Heights, NJ; importers include V.O.S. Selections, Inc., New York, NY; also a Peter Vezan selection; imported by The Stacole Co., Boca Raton, FL; and Import!, Madison, WI)