Domaine Chevrot 2005 Tasting Notes

Maranges rouge Sur le Chêne 2002
Hautes Côtes de Beaune rouge 2002

This year’s wines are from the outstanding 2002 vintage that was successful throughout Burgundy - but especially so here at the southern end of the Côte d’Or.  Quality was good but yields were down and consequently the wines are in short supply.  A long, hard winter eventually gave way to a warm spring and a cool, dry summer.  A small amount of rain fell at the beginning of September before clear skies returned for the harvest.  The resulting crop had high levels of natural alcohol (12-13%) and very good concentrations of natural sugar: perfect for what is now regarded as a classic burgundy vintage.

Both this year’s wines, the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune and the Maranges, have an intensity of aromatic expression that you don’t get every year.  They leave you in no doubt from their bouquet that you are about to appreciate a classic Pinot Noir.  The strawberry, cherry, blackcurrant, and sous-bois (undergrowth) on the nose carries through to the palate where mellow tannins - augmented by partial barrel ageing - help give the wines a rich length on the finish.  The Maranges has been in oak for 18 months, whereas the Hautes-Côtes has had only 9 months in barrel, and is therefore softer, and ready to drink now.  The Maranges has more toasty, spicy notes intermingled with the fruit, as well as more ‘grip’ on the palate from the tannins.  Both wines have bags of fruit with good acidity, and as the tannins soften they will come into perfect balance.  

This vintage will probably keep longer than any of the preceding three, and we advise drinking in the order 2000, 1999, 2001, 2002.