2003 Côte de Nuits-Villages

Sylvie Esmonin reported that 2004 was a fairly small crop-between 22 and 30 hectoliters per hectare across her parcels-as she eliminated a sizable percentage of the fruit to ripen the rest. She has been doing what she described to me as "a lot of whole-cluster vinification" in recent years, and she emphasized that one needs riper grapes and stems to be able to do this. In fact, in 2004 only 2 of her 11 cuvees were chaptalized, and the Clos Saint-Jacques, harvested on October 2, came in with 13. 9% potential alcohol. As of the time of my November visit, she was warming to the 2004s. "It's a year that astonishes us now for its color, purity and length," she told me. "In fact, there's not a big difference between 2002 and 2004 in the length of the wines. "In 2003, Esmonin harvested extremely late compared to her colleagues on the Cote de Nuits, beginning on September 5 and bringing in fruit with potential alcohol between 13. 9% and 14. 4%.

Sylvie Esmonin was one of the latest pickers in 2003, beginning on September 5 and bringing in fruit with potential alcohol near 14%. She vinified all her wines with at least some whole clusters to keep more freshness, and lightly acidified most of her cuvees-but not the Volnay-in order to create "a more acidic milieu for the fermentations." Esmonin was excited about the high quality of the lees, which she thought were giving the young wines important nourishment.