2000 Montrachet Grand Cru

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)

Gerard Boudot offered the most concise possible description of the 2000 and 1999 whites: "The 2000s are fruity, while the 1999s are floral," he told me at the end of May. He elaborated on the new vintage: "We had a lot of rain at the end of August and beginning of September in 2000, but the fruit had thick skins and there was little rot. It was a difficult year saved by ten good days of weather before the harvest. Yet the vintage shows a bit less acidity and a bit lower sugar than 1999, so the wines will have a slightly weaker structure. I'll probably bottle these wines a bit earlier, or perhaps keep them in cuve instead of oak for the last few months." The premier crus all were aging in about one-third new oak, except for the Combettes (45%) and the Garenne (25%). Boudot prefers '00 and '99 to '98 and '97, and is especially high on '99, which he compares in quality to 1990. "The 2000 vintage is more like '92," he adds. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)