1999 Echézeaux Grand Cru

Regis Forey bought a new pneumatic press in time for the 2000 harvest, and this has allowed him to age his wines with finer bourbes thus getting less bitterness. This was a good vintage to handle gently, according to Forey. "Two thousand is full of fruit, round and pleasant, a nice expression of pinot and terroir " said Forey. "But there less structure and much less acidity than in 1999, and a shorter levage will be necessary, in order to avoid drying out the wines." I found a few of the young 2000s a bit tough in the context of the vintage and dominated by their new oak (Forey uses all new barrels for his top crus), but generally better balanced than Forey's more muscular and sometimes brutally tannic '99s.

"With the new cuverie I finally had the space to do my pigeage " Regis Forey told me in November, "but I probably left the '99s too long on their skins and overdid the extraction." Including the cold maceration carried out prior to the onset of fermentation, the wines spent 26 to 28 days on their skins. The '99s had not yet been racked at the time of my visit, and Forey was still stirring the lees monthly. He was still hoping that the tannins would harmonize, and was planning to bottle the '99s later than usual. A number of these wines, including village wines from Morey-Saint-Denis and Vosne-Romanee, were tough going in November.