2000 Chambolle-Musigny Village

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)

Enologist Francois Millet likes the way the 2000s offer "elegance and sensuality, with no lack of intensity or strength." Yields here were kept to a low 30 hectoliters per hectare through a strict green harvest, and grape sugars were impressively high (in the 13%+ range), requiring no chaptalization. Millet vinified to get soft, sensual wines rather than going for big extraction, and in fact the young 2000s are scented, approachable wines with enough supporting spine for medium-term aging. The extroverted '99s, bottled between February and May of 2001, show sweet but tangy fruit and great verve. (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)