2002 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru

Thanks to the ripeness of the stems, the Seysses family vinified virtually 100% whole clusters in 2003.Little pre-fermentation maceration was done, but the team did more pigeages than usual during the early days of the fermentations, then simply kept the cap wet later on.The wines were pressed early and went into the barrel with a bit of sugar yet to be fermented.I tasted this year with Alec Seysses, and Jeremy Seysses's fiance Diana Snowden, who originally came here as an enologist.Snowden told me the 2003s were very reduced in the early going, but were much easier to taste in the fall, even those that had not yet been racked.

The Dujac team did a lot of green harvesting in 2002, according to Jeremy Seysses, holding yields to a low 32 or 33 hectoliters per hectare for the grand crus.Only the fine lees were kept in 2002, as the objective from the outset was to keep the wines on their lees, unracked, until the bottling.Jeremy Seysses describes the young 2002s as lush, leesy and sweet, but less powerful than the estate's '99s.The estate did a good bit of destemming in vintage 2001 but is now backing away from this approach (only 10% to 20% of the fruit was destemmed in 2002).The 2002s showed outstanding potential in November, and the top 2001s have turned out very well.(Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena CA Chambers & Chambers, San Francisco CA