2001 Meursault Genevrieres

Coutoux told me he has worked with pretty much the same appellations and sources over the past three vintages, which certainly makes a negociant s line-up of wines easier to follow. Coutoux described the 2001 and 2000 vintages as roughly similar, "with nice fruit, aromas and balance but some wines lacking richness." Vintage 2002, he says, yielded richer, more complete, more structured wines that are also livelier owing to their strong acids. Coutoux stirs the lees only until mid-November, as he fears that doing too much batonnage would risk dissipating the carbonic gas that keeps the wines fresh. I tasted the 2002s in Coutoux's tiny cellar at the top of the village of Chassagne-Montrachet, where he had just 41 barrels of wine. The equivalent of another 20 barrels' worth were aging in cuve at the beginning of June.

Coutoux describes his 2000s as "easy to taste, easy to drink; they were not hurt by the bottling. The wines from lighter, more minerally soils will develop quickly." The 2001s are not particularly powerful wines either, he added, but they're nicely balanced and long, with good fat and supple texture. The grapes were slightly smaller in '01, according to Coutoux, but there was still a big crop load, and sugars were slightly lower than those of the previous year. Coutoux ages his village wines in a combination of barriques and tank; the crus get about one-third new oak, but 50% for the Perrieres, as there are just two barrels. The 2001s had been sulfited about ten days prior to my visit.