2001 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru

Vincent Dauvissat, whose 2000s display great richness and soil character, describes 2002 as a more concentrated "normal" crop, with even better ripeness than the earlier year. Grape sugars ranged from 12.2% to just over 13%, and the finished wines will be no more than 13% alcohol. Acid levels in 2002 are quite firm, and the cru bottlings, according to Dauvissat, will need five or six years of aging before they approach their peaks. Dauvissat's 2001s, not surprisingly, are among the best in the appellation. There are four types of rot, Dauvissat told me, and he kept grapes affected by three of them: pourriture noble passerillage actually shriveled skins rather than rot], and grapes with violet-colored skins. It was the dry rot, found mostly in vines at the bottom of hillside vineyards, that he eliminated. He then did a very gentle pressing of the grapes, ultimately keeping very little of the bourbes or gross lees. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; the Dauvissat-Camus label is imported by Classic Wine Imports, Brookline, MA and Grape Expectations, Emeryville, CA)

Yes, there was rot in 2001, but the skins, and thus the flavors, were physiologically mature," said Chablis wizard Vincent Dauvissat. It was a matter of being careful with the pressing and the vinification. Dauvissat, who does not like wines with high alcohol, chaptalized no more than one degree "to respect the balance of the vintage: adding too much alcohol would have given the wine a burning aspect." The '01s will be barely 12.5% alcohol in bottle, but they hardly want for texture or intensity. The 2000s, adds Dauvissat, possess more material. The fruit was much healthier, less chaptalization was needed, and the wines have a better pH for aging. Like Bernard Raveneau, however, Dauvissat described 2000 as a very good vintage but not earth-shattering, due to the high crop level.