Producer note: Vincent Girardin told me that things are now working well in his new cuvérie on the outskirts of Meursault. "We've got the kinks worked out and I'm convinced that this will enable to ascend to the next level of quality. 2002 is an excellent vintage with very fine structure and wonderfully elegant wines in both red and white. We had less yield than in 2001 and there was virtually no chaptalization as the 1ers were at least 13.5% and the Bienvenues hit 14.7%. It was clear from the beginning that '02 was a very rich vintage and thus I did much less bâtonnage than usual and in some cases, I did none at all. I'm trying more and more to privilege the sense of minerality in my wines, indeed to make them much more terroir oriented than I have in the past. As such, I again lowered the percentage of new oak and it's around 40% of the 1ers and 80% for the grands crus now." The lower level wines were bottled in August, the 1ers in November and the grands crus in January; I tasted these '02s in February. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; note: some of these wines are also sold through European Cellars, Charlotte, North Carolina under the Baron de la Charrière label and I'm told that they are identical to those sold under the Vineyard Brands label; Bibendums, Adnams, Berry Brothers & Rudd, Berkmann Wine Cellars and Tanners, all UK).
Tasting note: This is a much bigger wine with robust, indeed even powerful aromas and muscular, punchy, medium full flavors that deliver better length, detail and overall balance. This coats and stains the palate. Burghound 89 points |
