2000

Whites

A second consecutive fine Chardonnay vintage, and another huge crop, but the emphasis was different from 1999. A wildly irregular growing 2000 season, punctuated by frequent storms, gave contrasting results within and between growing zones. Burgundy’s northern and southern extremities - Chablis and the Mâconnais - excelled; performance was less uniform on the Côte de Beaune although certain white Burgundy producers there rate their 2000s at least as highly as their 1999s. May and June totalled a recordbreaking 530 hours of sunshine, ensuring a rapid, trouble-free flowering and a big, early harvest. July was awful throughout Burgundy; August was bone dry in Chablis, cold and wet in the Mâconnais, patchy in the Côte d’Or. September was mostly dry with the best weather coming in the second fortnight, but a violent storm at the start of harvest hit the Chalonnais and southern Côte de Beaune. All these topsy-turvy conditions shaped vintage success. Chablis avoided spring frost and got the best of the summer weather, achieving full ripeness and picking from 20th September in fine conditions. These long-term, mineral-rich wines are priority purchases in 2000. The poor August weather actually helped the Mâconnais where deficient acidity has been a problem in recent hot vintages. Less round but more complex than the 1999s, Mâconnais 2000s are fine prospects, recalling the grip and structure of the regions’ great 1990s. The best Côte de Beaune 2000 whites are finely aromatic, medium-weight wines, often a bit less acid and less ageworthy than their 1999 counterparts. Among the top three Côte de Beaune villages, it was Puligny which came closest to upstaging its 1999s, its thin, freedraining soils shrugging off the 2000 rain. Whatever the fine detail, good bottles abound in this vintage which merits serious attention from white Burgundy drinkers.

Reds

White wines stole the show in 2000 in Burgundy but there is plenty to like about the reds, too. Deeply-coloured and aromatic, possessed of good natural sugar ripeness but low acidity, their forward-drinking style makes them the right choice today, whilst waiting for the longer-term 1996 or 1999. The chaotic 2000 growing season, marked by stormy weather and wild temperature swings, put the premium on vineyard rather than cellar work. Getting ripe, healthy, low-yielding fruit into the fermenter was, as so often, the main challenge. Exceptional hot, sunny conditions in May and June (100 hours more sunshine than normal over the two months) guaranteed a rapid flowering, a huge fruit set and a very early harvest. But July was dire and August erratic. (Vosne-Romanée, on the Côte de Nuits, for example, recorded 270mm of rain between March and August as against 378mm in Beaune, just 15 miles south.) September in the Côte d’Or was mainly dry but a fierce storm on the 12th/13th September penalised the Chalonnais and the Côte de Beaune. Harvesting began on 28th August in the Beaujolais, 9th September in the Chalonnais, the 11th on the Côte de Beaune and the 13th on the Côte de Nuits, ten days ahead of normal. Beaujolais growers who waited until early September were rewarded with excellent, structured fruit, and many fine crus emerged from the Moulin-à-Vent/Fleurie sector. The later-ripening Côte de Nuits and Hautes-Côtes got the best of the September weather but Volnay, Savigny and Chassagne on the Côte de Beaune also turned in ripe, characterful wines.Generally, 2000 provides plenty of easy drinking but there is a bigger than usual quality jump between village AOC level and the higher premiers and grands crus. Cellar the senior wines until 2007. Otherwise, drink from 2005.