2001

Al-Qaeda terrorists attack the United States using hijacked passenger planes to bring down the Twin Towers in New York and crash a plane into the Pentagon in Arlington County. Virginia has had nearly 3,000 deaths. the attacks are known simply as 911 due to the date of the September 11 attack. Due to the attacks a number of things happen, America declares war on terrorism and invades Afghanistan where Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was believed to be hiding, security increases for all aspects of American life, including aviation security.

Bordeaux / The year 2001 is known as the year of the winegrowers. The whole of Bordeaux suffered from a lot of rain and the resulting noble rot. Sauternes has been producing its best wines for decades, and there is good reason to talk about the Sauternes revolution. The best wine of the year is clearly Yquem. Parker's hundred-point Yquem sold for 300 euros en primeur, and today the price is 600 euros per bottle.

For red wines, the year was difficult. Cabernet Sauvignon, thanks to its thicker skin, did better than Merlot. The cold, rainy and cloudy growing period caused the grapes to ripen too slowly. The areas had to work more intensively. The grapes were rather small and produced concentrated wines. Latour can be considered the best buy. Good buys also include Ausone, Pétrus and Le Pin.

Sauternes Vintage Report: Rapid appearance of botrytis on ripe grapes, rich in sugar. Ideal October: brief rainstorms, high temperatures, windy and sunny afternoons. Very sweet but balanced wines with pronounced noble rot and remarkable complexity. A memorable year and very uniform success for all liqueurs.

2001 VINTAGE in Burgundy

A promising start to the new millennium...
 

Growing season and weather conditions

The winter, during which the vines lay dormant, was a mild one.

The first signs of bud-burst came early but wintry conditions in April accompanied by frosts in the most exposed vineyards slowed down the start of the growing season.

Spring, from May onwards, was marked by periods of fine sunny weather.

The first flowers appeared, precociously, at the beginning of June, but the process was then slowed by a recurrence of low temperatures. Flowering was thus spread out over a period of some two weeks and the resulting unevenness in the progress of maturation persisted until harvest-time.

The natural weight of the crop burden led many growers to resort to green thinning ("vendanges en vert") - cutting out superfluous grape bunches at an early stage to ensure a harvest lower in volume but higher in quality.

Maturation and harvest
July was cool and rainy. Summer only really arrived in August with sometimes scorching heat and high levels of recorded sunshine. Violent rain- and hail-storms caused significant damage to the vines in some localities.

Maturation proceeded under favourable circumstances and the physical condition of the grapes remained good.

A slight drop in temperature at the beginning of September together with some light rain meant that in choosing the right moment to begin picking, growers needed to be alert and exercise great judgement (given uneven maturation and changeable weather conditions), and to make the best use of dry and sunny periods.

The need to wait, in some cases, for the moment of optimum ripeness meant that the harvest period was prolonged. Maturity was variable with sugar levels ranging from moderate to very good, good levels of acidity, and variable polyphenol levels in the red wines.

Estimated yield totals 1.5 million hectolitres, a slightly lower volume than the 2000 and 2001 harvests.

Vinification and character of the wines
Vinification of the white wines proceded in a lesisurely manner and without incident. The red wines demanded more attention in order to extract the maximum potential from their colouring matter and tannins.

As of mid-November, the white wines are fine and straightforward, well-balanced with good concentration and well-developed fruit backed by firm acidity.

The reds are vividly and intensely coloured. They have a well-defined structure thanks to firm tannins and a good level of acidity. They are meaty, with agreeable and expressive fruit.

A roller coaster ride

An early spring, a surprise frost and early heat spikes led to a bit of a roller coaster ride for the 2001 crop. The up-and-down temperatures began with a cold and harsh March, with two deceptive heat spikes into the 80s, which coaxed the vines into a slightly earlier bloom. The hottest May on record and the third hottest June (in total degree days) led to harvest around two to three weeks ahead of normal. August cooled to near perfect temperatures with cool nights, allowing the grapes to settle and extend the all-important hang time on the vine, producing remarkably clean fruit.

Italy Vintage Report by Tb: In 2001, producers' fears about an early spring came true. New buds that were exposed to the subzero temperatures of April suffered severe damage, which was evident in the small size of the crop. The very hot and dry summer weather brought the vineyards almost to their breaking point, until, just in time, the rains of early September saved the withered crops from mortality. The result was a very ripe and very fruity vintage, dominated by a high concentration of essence, rich color and robust tannins. Overall, Piedmont and Tuscany both produced an excellent, long-lasting vintage. These wines can be aged for decades.

BURGUNDY 2001: Weather during the winter was calm with no frost damage, resulting in an early spring around March 24.

The month of April was cold and wet and did not allow the vineyard to keep ahead of its growing cycle.
May was kind and warm, promoting the growth and development of green shoots.
The time of full flowering was before mid-June, with local spots of millerandange.

Towards the end of June, new disturbances occurred, finally giving way to a heatwave leading to rapid fruiting.
The fruit set was weakened by successive rain storms. This disrupted period ended on August 2 with a violent but local hailstorm devastating the vineyards of Volnay, Pommard, Meursault and Bouzeron.

The month of August was windy and sunny, allowing the vines to heal well. Veraison took place from mid-August in fairly good conditions even though the vintage could have used a little more sun and despite the sunny weather during the harvest period.

In the Pinot Noir, the quality of the grapes seemed very inconsistent. The weather conditions of July/August (hail) and September (rain) delayed the ripening of certain specific appellations. For this reason, we delayed the harvest dates with once again a drastic and meticulous sorting of the grapes. Without being exceptionally generous, the 2001 Pinot Noir has a beautiful color and good fruit quality.

Today's acidity with a high level of malic acid must be absorbed and transformed into lactic acid and with suitable and qualified care during maturation the hand of the winemaker should be perceptible.

The Chardonnay from the Côte de Beaune was the most resistant to climatic hazards in this 2001 vinatge. The much lower yield of this vintage compared to previous ones (1999 and 2000) allowed good maturation and almost perfect health.

The wines offer beautiful aromas sharpened by solid acidity (in particular malic acid which will ferment into lactic acid). The richness is there and the balance seems very interesting. Not as concentrated as the 2000 vintage but probably in line with the 1997 vintage with slightly better acidity.

DRC Burgundy vintage report: As of this writing, the vines look like a purplish red and gold tapestry in the sun shining through a light autumn mist. The painting is sumptuous. We finally feel the calm and gentleness of the “Indian summer” which has settled over Burgundy.

This calm and gentleness contrast strikingly with the chaotic year we have been through: successively rainy, cold, hot, often without transition, each heat wave being followed by storms... Once again, we have been faced with a difficult year and we had to be more vigilant than ever about our treatments and our work in the vineyards.

What are the turning points of 2001?

- Budburst took place at the beginning of May and was two weeks late compared to last year, which was excessively early. Beautiful setting of clusters leading to severe disbudding.
- May was beautiful, but June was cold and rainy. Flowering began around June 10 in cool weather, which, surprisingly, did not slow it down and therefore did not prevent fairly uniform ripening of the grapes.
- The month of July was a succession of beautiful days and storms, cold and heat. The beginning and second part of August were “scorching” (up to 38°C for 4 consecutive days!) leading to storms which hit certain places on the Coast very hard, but did not affect the Domaine. By all accounts, the number of sunny days and accumulated heat was equal to what we observed in a year like 1995.

Thanks to this ever-changing weather, the grapes were formed with skins that were quite thick and rich in anthocyanins, but also fragile, which the vines were not always going to bring to complete maturity.

This is, I believe, the greatest characteristic of the year, which had major consequences on our decisions: the old vines with few grapes and the younger ones which had been carefully thinned brought their grapes to full maturity. But, perhaps much more than in other years, the grapes carried by vines that were a little heavier, too vigorous or with large clusters, did not ripen completely and created all the conditions for botrytis to develop.