2001 Montrachet Grand Cru

There was so much malic acidity in the grapes in 2001 that we couldn't envision the post-malo wine," said winemaker Pierre Morey. Sugars were lower than those of 2000, as nothing much happened during the cool early September weather, but we still were able to avoid chaptalizing much of the crop," noted Morey. We needed to use sorting tables in the vines and in the winery, to eliminate rotten and underripe grapes, as well as those burned by the sun at the beginning of August. The rot came earlier in 2001 than in 2000; in 2000 it was mostly noble rot, which can give the wines more personality, but in 2001 it was especially important to eliminate the rotten grapes because they could have given a dry taste to the wines." Morey noted that Domaine Leflaive did not need to take advantage of the P.L.C. (the plafond limite de classement or the amount by which Burgundy growers are allowed to exceed the rendement de base or base yield), as the drawn-out flowering and millerandage as well as two bursts of hail - which caused significant crop loss in Clavoillons - resulted in yields 10% to 12% lower than those of 2000. This was a drier-style year favoring wines with a tendency to be fat, like Puligny Combettes and Batard-Montrachet," added Morey.