1999 Echézeaux Grand Cru

According to export director Christophe Voisin, Francois Faiveley now believes that using saignee to concentrate the must is a mistake, "because the juice you remove using this technique contains some of the grape finest ingredients. We'd much rather cut off excess grapes in July and August," added Voisin, "as we did in '99. Still, yields were full across the board." The '99 harvest brought fruit with a bit less sugar than the previous year, notes Voisin; the wines are charming and fairly large. Acidity levels are good, but a bit lower than those of '98. Vatting time was a couple of days longer in '99 in an attempt to extract more color and tannic support. Indeed, the '99s showed very well in November, and perhaps deceptively forward. "As Guy Faiveley [Francois's father] used to say," noted Voisin, "you can drink them young like fromage blanc or wait until they're Camembert."