2000 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru

Enologist Francois Millet describes 2001 as a vintage with two faces: there is an enticing crushed fruit character to 2001," he told me in November, "but the slight shadow over the vintage is its bright natural acidity, which is what gives the fruit energy. This is the serious side of the vintage. The fresh acids are more important than the wines' tannic structures in 2001." According to Millet, the estate-wide yield was 35 hectoliters per hectare in 2001, the same as in '99 but higher than in '00. It was necessary to drop virtually half of the potential crop during a green harvest to arrive at this moderate production level. (Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY; Ideal Wines, Medford, MA; Barrique Wines, Chicago, IL; Chambers & Chambers, San Francisco, CA; The Wine Company, Minneapolis, MN, Vintner Select, Cincinnati, OH)