2000 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

Christophe Roumier noted that his 2001 Corton-Charlemagne had an extremely long malo, in fact just as long as many of his reds. As did many in the Pernand area, Roumier reported a very low pH of only 3.16! These two examples were tasted at the Domaine in October of 2002.

The ripeness here in 2001 really occurred at the last minute, with the sugars generally reaching 11%-11.5% and the ripest fruit coming in at 12.8%, reported Christophe Roumier. We had to live with a range of ripeness even within the bunches," he noted. The sorting, Roumier added, was to eliminate underripe rather than rotten grapes. The 2001 vintage will make firm wines with solid tannic structure and good aging potential, "a bit like those of 1993 but with more richness. The '01s show more red fruits than the '93s at the same stage but perhaps a bit less spice and flowers." Roumier, incidentally, considers his 2000s to be lighter than his 1997s. The awful weather in July of 2000 was responsible for the thinner skins of the vintage, and the less important tannic structure of the wines. On the other hand, the 2000s retained better acidity than the '97s, added Roumier.

Roumier describes 2000 as a lighter-styled vintage, but light in a good way: soft, silky, appealing . . . very Burgundy. The thin-skinned grapes, said Roumier, did not possess a lot of potential in terms of tannin and color. There was a bit of rot in some parcels in 2000, but the affected grapes were very easy to remove, Roumier added. Virtually all the parcels came in with 13% or more natural sugar "but without the corresponding structure one would expect from grapes so ripe." So even though production here was about 20% lower than that of '99, the '00s are less concentrated and structured wines. Roumier did a bit more extraction by extending the maceration longer after the fermentations ended. His 2000s have also benefitted from late malos; following a first racking in September, they were still on their fine lees in early November and thus won't be bottled as early as Roumier initially planned. Compared to the best recent vintages from this top producer, the 2000s just miss on verve and complexity of aromas. But the wines will offer substantial early pleasure, and the estate top three or four cuvees are impressive in the context of the vintage. Roumier's '99s have turned out splendidly.