2002 Grands-Echezeaux

I have the impression that Laurent's wines have been much more consistent in quality since the 2000 vintage, and his 2003s showed extremely well in November.Laurent was very much in the camp of the late harvesters, as thoroughly ripe phenolic material is crucial to his elevage.Almost all of his wines from the Cote de Nuits came from fruit harvested in September; but even most of his Cote de Beaunes were picked after the refreshing precipitation of August 28.Laurent told me that half of the malos were finished by the time he took possession of the barrels of wine in January and February.In general, those wines that were vinified with whole clusters proceeded more slowly.For those willing to purchase wine from Laurent's early en primeur offering, there are always some serious bargains here:with 2003, Laurent will offer village wines from Gevrey, Chambolle, Volnay and Pommard that consist mainly of declassified premier crus, including old vines from lesser crus-often at opening prices that are barely half as high as his premier crus.As usual, I sampled a boatload of wine here, but not everything. Laurent told me that most of his village wines, plus his premier crus from the Cote de Beaune, were aging in 50% new and 50% one-year-old barrels, while his grand crus were in all new oak.For what it's worth, he noted that Clos Vougeot, Echezeaux, Grands Echezeaux and Musigny were his best vineyards in 2003. I should point out that virtually all of Laurent's 2003s will say "Vieilles Vignes" on the label.

The irrepressible Laurent calls 2002 "my best year yet, an incredible vintage."It seemed to me that I tasted more of his new wines from barrel than in any past vintage, and I found the average quality impressively high. Among a mixed case of Laurent's 2001s that I subsequently sampled back home, there were some stunning wines, but a couple that should have been great-the Musigny and the Mazis-Chambertin "Cuvee B"-showed strong oxidative character and were downright puzzling.In November, Laurent told me that he generally prefers his 2001 Cote de Beaune wines, for their concentration and ripeness, to his cuvees from the Cote de Nuits, but I suspect he was hyperbolizing.Note that most of Laurent's wines say "Vieilles Vignes" on the label, but I have omitted this designation from my notes on the 2002s, except where Laurent made specific mention of it as we tasted the wines.