2001 Marsannay Boivin

Philippe Roty is not as tight-lipped as his father Joseph when it comes to sharing winemaking details with visiting journalists, but neither is he a fount of information. Happily, however, as Philippe has increasingly taken over the work in the cellar, overall philosophy and results here have not changed much. All our work is aimed at getting consistency of fruit and ripeness across vintages,' Philippe told me, adding that he did a more severe green harvest than usual in 2002, and ultimately ended up producing a crop level similar to that of 2001.Sugars were slightly higher in 2002, and acids were similar to those of 2001. But the 2001s are very firmly structured,' he said. They're not really closed yet, but the grand crus still need ten years of aging.'Roty's favorite vintages of the last two decades?1985, 1990, 1993, 1995.

Philippe Roty describes 2001 as a vintage with good acidity and good ripeness, although he pointed out that vintages 1999, 2000 and 2001 provided raw materials with roughly equivalent maturity. The estate did a somewhat longer than usual cold maceration for its 2001s, stalling the onset of the fermentation by keeping the must under a layer of gas at 10oC. Although the domain continues to use barrels from five tonneliers Philippe told me that he has a fondness for Vosges barrels crafted by Damy, pointing out that these are relatively little used by neighboring estates. Roty pere et fils are now renting a lot of Marsannay vines and are increasing the number of micro-cuvees from this appellation. The best of them offer excellent value in red Burgundy.