2000 Vosne-Romanée Village

Jean-Nicolas Meo, who typically racks his new wines prior to the following harvest, had not yet racked his 2000s in November. "It a more fragile vintage, and the wines are not very reduced," he told me, "so why upset them?" The fruit in 2000 was as ripe as that of '99, and Meo sorted strictly to eliminate underripe and rotten grapes. In fact, Meo said he did less chaptalization in 2000 than in any previous vintage. The biggest difference between 2000 and 1999, he went on, is the lower acidity in the later year: the typical pH is 3.7 in '00, vs. 3.5 in '99. Still, unlike in '97, the malolactic fermentations went slowly, giving the 2000s good protection from oxidation in barrel. Meo offered the opinion that his 2000s might evolve like his highly successful '89s.