2001 Meursault Les Clous

Interestingly, winemaker Philippe Prost feels that 2000 was the most successful vintage of the last three for white wines here, as Bouchard benefitted by harvesting its domain grapes early to retain acidity. The 2000 whites were like the 1999 reds for us," added managing director Bernard Hervet, "a consistently excellent set of wines. The 2001 whites were much more variable, with big differences by appellation. But the grand crus were harvested with very good grape sugars, and the premier crus as well. Yields were generally highest in Puligny-Montrachet. We wanted to pick the chardonnay with a good sugar/acid balance," noted Prost, "and thus it was necessary to wait for the stubbornly high acids to come down." Bouchard did even more green-harvesting in 2001 than it had the previous summer to bring down yields. It will be interesting to see whether the new vintage will ultimately match the 2000s for depth of flavor.