2003 Richebourg Grand Cru

Yields and selection were the critical factors in 2004, reported Aubert de Villaine, who told me that the growing season was difficult through the end of August, plagued by oidium, botrytis and the August 23 hail storm. The vintage was saved by the dry September and its north wind, and the estate was able to eliminate the dried grapes on the vines. Because the vines had never been stressed during the summer, Villaine added, the sugars went up quickly once the sun arrived, and the potential alcohol in the grapes was mostly in the high 13% range. Only about 20% of the fruit was destemmed in 2004. The estate-wide average yield here was just 28 hectoliters per hectare. The 2003s have turned out splendidly, with the Romanee-Conti my early candidate for wine of the vintage.

A year ago, Aubert de Villaine was guardedly optimistic about 2002 and was clearly more enthusiastic about this estate's 2001s.He was a lot more positive about the newer vintage in November."Two thousand two is about purity of fruit more than about tenderness," he noted."It's less seductive than '99.Still, the 2002s have taken an interesting course.Now they show a good combination of purity of fruit and balance.They are very classic wines that have the fruit to be enjoyed in their first couple of years, or cellared for 10 to 15 years."Villaine told me that the young 2002s remind him of the '62s-and I have fond memories of that vintage!Yields here in 2003 were an infinitesimal 13 to 21 hectoliters per hectare (compared to an average of 28 in 2002), with potential alcohol levels in the 13% range. The harvest began on August 23, and Villaine told me the team here was careful to control the fermentation temperatures in 2003. These wines were racked in the spring.Villaine chose not to use micro-aeration with the '03s, because the wines needed oxygenation and he wanted to eliminate the carbonic gas.