2000 Bordeaux

A vintage not without its challenges, 2000 produced a small clutch of very impressive wines, quite a few very good showings, and some also-rans.

It was a fecund spring. The warm, damp conditions sparked incidences of mildew throughout the region. Crop losses would have been significant were it not for the grit and determination of châteaux hell-bent on ensuring this potentially lucrative millennium vintage they so desperately needed would not be ruined before it began. Fortunately, Mother Nature played ball during flowering, and a good crop was set.

June turned out dismally damp, but the cooler weather at least slowed the mildew. Most of July wasn’t much better—moderate temperatures and overcast skies. Then, at the very end of July, out came the sun. August and September continued to be hot, triggering hydric stress in free-draining areas of sand and deep gravel soils. Mid-September brought some relief with a little rain; otherwise, the run-up to harvest and throughout the red grape harvest period remained blissfully dry. Yields were higher than average this year.

Generally, there was the potential to make great wine on both the left and right banks in 2000. However, small berries and thick skins led to very tannic red wines. Because extraction was not so precise back then as it is now, some of these were downright rugged in their youths. Another factor in the relative greatness of the year is incidences of Brettanomyces in wines, which tend to plague riper, more tannic vintages unless winemakers are super-vigilant. For these reasons, many estates produced wines that quickly developed rustic characters. Over time, these wines became harder to love than their softer, purer 2001 counterparts. The Merlot-based wines of the right bank, particularly Saint-Émilion, have turned out a little plusher and more pristinely perfumed than many left bank wines. Château Cheval Blanc, Pavie, and Angélus are perfect examples, all phenomenal to drink right now, though they still have a good 20 years or more of cellaring potential. Châteaux Latour, Cos d’Estournel, Pichon Lalande, and Mouton Rothschild are among my favorites on the left bank.

The dry autumn of 2000 did not bode well for a great vintage in Sauternes. Unfortunately, the Botrytis never really took off this year, and heavy rains in mid-October pushed growers to harvest what they had. Consequently, this was more of a fruity, late-harvest style vintage for early to medium-term drinking. Most of the best sweet wines have reached their peaks.