2001 Chambertin Grand Cru

Lalou Bize-Leroy raised some eyebrows in Burgundy by bottling her 2001s in late August. It was a choice between sulfuring the wines to prevent the levels of volatile acidity from increasing during another few months in barrel or simply bottling them early to capture their fresh, pure fruit," she told me in November, making it clear that she thought adding more SO2 would have been a mistake. It's hard to argue with her strategy, as the wines were utterly captivating in November, showing little sign of bottle shock. Yields here averaged in the infinitesimal 18 hectoliters-per-hectare range in 2001. I tasted with Lalou Bize on the day before she left for a trip to Japan to celebrate her 30th year of vinifying ("to speak some blah-blah on the subject of biodynamie as she put it).