2003 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru

Under the direction of Pascal Marchand, who left this estate early this year and will pursue his own venture, Domaine de la Vougeraie harvested on the late side, and slowly-"because the fruit was gaining in maturity," said Marchand. "But some people had no choice but to pick due to vine diseases in 2004. "Grape sugars were generally between 12% and 12. 5% and most wines were chaptalized between a half-degree and a full degree. Many cuvees are now in the 12. 7% to 12. 8% range, Marchand noted. Vougeraie sorted its fruit both before and after destemming it, as well as in the vineyards at the moment of picking. Marchand did a shorter cold soak than usual because he did not want to extract bitterness from grapes with inadequate physiological ripeness and then switched from punching down the cap to pumping over in the middle of the fermentation. Of the cellars I regularly visit, this facility is one of the least suited to making fine Burgundy. Even during cold November weather, the barrel cellar is warmer than it should be due to inadequate insulation in the ceiling, and it is apparently difficult to achieve a significant difference in temperature between the rooms where the new vintage is undergoing malolactic fermentation and the cellar where the year-old wine is aging. Perhaps as a result, many of the 2003s went into bottle too evolved, and some of the 2004s in November also seemed more advanced than they should have been. Most of the 2004s finished their malos last March or April, and were then racked.