2000 North America

An excellent millennium vintage for California with quality being consistently high throughout the state's wine growing districts.

Spring was warm and fairly uneventful save for some sporadic rainfall, which had a negligible effect on the vines.In June the Napa Valley was hit by a 3-day heatwave with temperatures reaching as high as 47 degrees centigrade.

The remainder of the summer witnessed cooler than average temperatures culminating a spell of cold and misty weather in the middle of September. Consequently the harvest was a relatively late one with many producers picking their Cabernet Sauvignon as late as early September.

Yields were higher than in 1999 and generally the wines display good depth of colour, excellent balance, and impressive levels of fruit intensity. The Chardonnays in particular are exceptional and exude a complexity and finesse rarely encountered outside of the Côte de Beaune.