2000 Côte-Rôtie

Two thousand one was a disaster if you didn'tx000D have your fruit in good condition," said Bernard Burgaud, who describesx000D the vintage as a year of the winemaker. The grapes deteriorated quickly in the bad weather late in thex000D harvest. The skins were more sensitivex000D because they were ripe when the bad weather came, so there was more rot to gox000D along with the higher grape sugars." But Burgaud maintained that most of his late-picked fruit held up well,x000D thanks in large part to his successful use of anti-rot sprays. (Alain Junguenet/Wines of France,x000D Mountainside, NJ; Martine's Wines, San Rafael, CA; Europvin/Christopher Cannanx000D Selections)

Burgaud was happy with his 2001 harvest, which had been drawn out over a period of 15 days, rather than the usual 4 or 5. "I picked one part early due to encroaching rot," he told me, "but then waited two full weeks for the rest. My anti-rot sprays really worked." The 2000 vintage also featured a bit of rot toward the end, yet Burgaud is convinced that this vintage should last 15 to 20 years in bottle. "The challenge was to hold down yields," he noted. Burgaud's Cote-Rotie does not necessarily track those of his neighbors in style. In '99, for example, his grape sugars were high at the end of August but so were acid levels, making this a totally atypical crop, said Burgaud. Although the finished wine is a full 13.4%, some of his cuvees began at just 12% and required chaptalization. Burgaud told me he dislikes his '95 ("a lousy, rainy summer") but loves his '96 ("I had a very reasonable crop level compared to my neighbors"). (Alain Junguenet/Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ; Martine's Wines, San Rafael, CA; Europvin/Christopher Cannan Selections)