2002 White Burgundy

A great vintage for White Burgundy and, for growers a relatively straightforward year for harvesting and vinification. The winter was dryer than normal, about half the rain that the region received the previous winter. A dryer than average winter followed by a warm and dry Spring led to a relatively early flowering. Summer was cool and very dry which led to the grapes maturing but with the acids levels remaining constant.

The vines were suffering from some dehydration and luckily in early September there were a couple of little rainstorms which had the effect of stimulating growth. It became very hot around the 15th of September and sugar levels took off within days. Growers who began harvesting around the 17th were rewarded with grapes rich in natural sugars and perfect balancing acidity. Most growers finished harvesting their whites by September 23rd.

More than a year after the harvest the whites are showing exceptional generosity of fruit and a fresh but not intrusive level of acidity. There is a similarity with 1996, when the north wind also played a role, but the wines have more flesh, perhaps more akin to 1992.