2000 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

"Sure, the 2000s are a bit less pure than the '99s," said Boillot, who is a stickler for clarity and cleanliness of aromas, "but at the same time the small percentage of rot gave the wines a more glyceral, honeyed quality." Still, the purity of each terroir comes through in '00, Boillot adds, if not quite to the same degree as in the previous year. Boillot is especially high on the '99s, especially the red wines, which he says are even better than the '90s. Interestingly, Boillot told me that although the Puligny villages is slightly better in '99, the 2000 premier crus are at least as good as those of the earlier year. My early look at the new vintage turned up a set of concentrated but gentle wines, with ripe, harmonious acidity and noteworthy subtlety of flavor. Boillot ferments his white wines with two commercial yeasts, the more important of which gives more exotic soft citrus (orange, tangerine) notes. These two "cryo-yeasts" function well at low temperature, thus enabling Boillot to ferment his wines for up to six weeks at a temperature no higher than 18oC, getting more gras in the process. The relatively efficient yeasts also produce a bit more alcohol from the available grape sugars, allowing Boillot to avoid or at least to minimize chaptalization.