2000 Meursault Village

Managing director Bernard Hervet describes the Bouchard 2000 whites as very clean, pure, linear wines, from rot-free fruit picked early to retain acidity. "We can compare these wines in quality to '92 or '89," he told me at the end of May, adding that they're a bit lower in acidity than the '99s. Bouchard actually purchased 35% less fruit and must in '00 than in '99, said Hervet, and declassified or sold off a good bit of pinot noir from the Cote de Beaune. But the chardonnay grapes were healthy. "We looked for longer pressing, longer contact with the skins," winemaker Philippe Prost told me. "We began with clean grapes and were able to look for richness of flavor." Incidentally, Bouchard does batonnage by rolling the barrels, thus avoiding any unnecessary addition of oxygen.