2003 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru

According to Martin Prieur, the estate harvested by passing each vine twice on the same day, picking the good grapes first but eliminating most of what remained. The result was a very low estate-wide yield of barely 20 hectoliters per hectare, according to co-manager Bertrand Devillard, one of the lowest figures I heard on my November tour of Burgundy. Devillard compared the 2004s to the '98s:"Both vintages have a lot of fruit. "According to Devillard, a couple of the 2004 Prieur reds were either combined or declassified and one wine had just been racked when I stopped by to taste. Domaine Prieur harvested late in 2003 and managed to make fat, broad, very ripe wines that are nonetheless classically pinot in character and mostly escaped the cooked aspect of the vintage.