2001 Chassagne-Montrachet

Gerard Boudot described the April 11 frost in 2003 as the area's worst since 1974, with his most substantial crop losses coming in Puligny-Montrachet Referts, Perrieres, Champs-Canet and Combettes. Boudot regards vintage 2002 as the fourth consecutive year that yielded well-balanced wines. Grape sugars were in the very ripe 12.5% to 13.8% range and very little chaptalization was needed. As with the 2001s, the malolactic fermentations went slowly. The combination of good acidity, healthy pHs and the SO2 treatments stalled the development of the malolactic bacteria," he explained. Two thousand two began with more material than 2001, more ripeness. The wines show very good precision and intensity; they're aromatic, more floral than in 2001." The yields in 2002 were lower than in the previous two years, added Boudot, with the village parcels producing 45 to 48 hectoliters per hectare and the premier crus 42 to 47. I was not able to sample the 2002 Montrachet as none of the barrels had finished their malos. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)

Gerard Boudot describes his 2001s as fat, fresh and a bit lower in acidity than his 2000s, but with similar sugars. The rains stopped about ten days prior to the vendange and some concentration was regained in the latter days of the harvest. Boudot admitted to a bit of rot in 2001 ("but the rot gave more gras and in any case I did very little stirring of the lees"), but maintained that rot was not an issue in 2000 and thus the earlier wines are "pure, elegant and precise." Thanks in part to cold weather this past winter, as well as to the somewhat higher amounts of sulfur added to the 2001 musts, the malolactic fermentations have gone very slowly, noted Boudot, who added that his Chevalier-Montrachet and Montrachet were just beginning their secondary fermentations. In virtually every instance, I tasted the 2001s from barrels that had finished their malos, which means that I tasted mostly from new or once-used barrels. Drink the premier crus after two or three years, suggests Boudot, the grand crus after five or six. Boudot, incidentally, describes his 1999s as "less elegant than the 2000s but with more material. The 2000s will be more expressive early." These wines have indeed turned out very well. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)