2000 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru

As long-time IWC readers know, I am a great fan of this domain's wines. Short pruning and constant work in the vineyards give Robert and Serge Groffier low yields and early ripeness, a great advantage in cooler years, or in Septembers in which quick harvesters can bring in ripe fruit ahead of forecasted rains. Still, as I suggested last year, the Groffier 2000s strike me as almost too much of a good thing: extraordinarily ripe and sweet but perhaps at the cost of some of their verve and typicity. Needless to say, this is a good vintage for Burgundy hedonists to discover the wines of this estate. The 2001s, made from crop levels a bit higher than those of 2000, are more typical wines; they certainly possess the uncanny sweetness and sap for which this estate has become known. Incidentally, Burgundy lovers on tight budgets should not miss the Groffiers' passetoutgrains and Bourgogne rouge which are routinely among the strongest examples of their appellations and certainly deliver in 2001. (A Peter Vezan selection; importers include Old Vine Imports, San Francisco, CA; Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; Ideal Wines & Spirits, Medford, MA; Import!, Madison, WI; and The Stacole Co., Boca Raton, FL)

As at other estates in and around Morey-Saint-Denis, the Groffiers harvested fruit in 2000 with nearly off-the-charts sugar levels, routinely in the 13.5+% range (some of the Bonnes-Mares vines reached 14%). Due to their tireless work in the vines, the Groffiers have been getting riper and riper fruit in recent years. Perhaps perversely, for the first time I wondered if a couple of the young 2000s were almost too ripe to showcase their terroir But they are surely gloriously rich examples of pinot noir. As usual, the young 2000s were being prepared for bottling in floating-top stainless steel tanks in the Groffiers' cold garage when I tasted them in early November. (A Peter Vezan selection; importers include Old Vine Imports, San Francisco, CA; Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; Ideal Wines & Spirits, Medford, MA; and The Stacole Co., Boca Raton, FL)