I cannot say that 2000 is the greatest vintage for red Burgundy of the past few decades, and nor is it my favourite, per se. But it is one that has given me some of the most pleasure nonetheless. That’s because of its particularly exuberant charming style and its readiness to drink. 

To be specific I’m talking about the Côte de Nuits, as the weather in the Côte de Beaune was less favourable for reds in 2000. In a word, I would describe the 2000 Côte de Nuits reds as fun. They offer voluptuous fruitiness, and aromatics that can grab your attention more than you might expect – even in a vertical offering higher star-power vintages like 1999 or 2001. 2000 wears its heart on its sleeve and wants to put a grin on your face. 

A case in point 2000 La Tâche from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Looking back at my notes from The Fine Wine Experience vertical in Beijing in back in 2019, the 2000 was a surprising star of the line-up, getting six votes for wine of the night. I was impressed by its ‘warm, spicy, enveloping nose’, and its ‘nectar-laden’ and ‘hedonistic feel’ on the palate. In short, if you are looking to serve a La Tâche for outright appeal, you can’t go far wrong with the 2000.

Even in the Côte de Nuits, weather conditions delivered a potentially mixed bag, with a large crop of thin-skinned berries threatened by the possibility of rot, dilute flavours, lowish acids, albeit with good sugar levels. But better terroirs were favoured, and low-yielding old vines a big plus, along with careful selection. The result in Allen Meadows and Doug Barzelay’s words were reds:

‘tender, ripe, pretty, supple and reasonably expressive of underlying terroir. They are neither dense nor especially structured though, as what structure exists is ripe and pliant. Not surprisingly the reds were enjoyable relatively quickly but more surprisingly, given their lower-than-average concentration and structure, they have held up well. At domaines that controlled yields, there is a beguiling sappiness to the wines that continues to make them enticing.’¹


Twenty years on it needn’t cost a fortune to sample 2000 Côte de Nuits reds either. From Domaine Moine-Hudelot, in Chambolle-Musigny, we have both Bonnes-Mares and Les Amoureuses. You don’t see these wines around so much because the domaine was small (3.5ha), and its vineyards were sold to Domaine Pousse d’Or in 2008 when the label ended. I loved the 2002 example of the Amoureuses at a dinner focused on that vineyard we hosted in Beijing a couple of years ago. (I have not tried the 2000). Moine-Hudelot are honest, old school sorts of wines at accessible prices (see the list below). You can read about that dinner, and the Moine-Hudelot Amoureuses here.

At the other end of the scale, we have available some of the most desirable 2000 vintage Côte de Nuits Burgundies it is possible to buy.


I have not tasted the ultra-rare 2000 Domaine d’Auvenay Mazis-Chambertin, but at a dinner we hosted in 2018 both Lalou Bize-Leroy’s Domaine Leroy Richebourg and Romanée-St-Vivant were simply brilliant show-stopping wines, so I can’t imagine the long-lived Mazis from her personal domaine being anything less. Speaking of rare, 2000 also marks the penultimate vintage for Henri Jayer’s domaine-bottled Cros Parantoux. And we have the coup de grâce in rarity too, surely, with Christophe Roumier’s 2000 Domaine Roumier Musigny, just a couple of hundred bottles or so produced. His 2000 Domaine Roumier Ruchottes-Chambertin I tasted last year. I found it sweet, zingy, spicy with an underlying melting texture, some warmth, good definition and a surprising level of purity and definition for the vintage (no surprise from this producer). At Roumier Bonnes-Mares verticals we hosted in Beijing and Hong Kong in 2017, I found the 2000 Bonnes-Mares well-balanced and expressive of the terroir, with – again – impressive purity, a Roumier hallmark. 


 

In Gevrey-Chambertin we have both of Claude Dugat’s best-known grands crus – Charmes-Chambertin and Griotte-Chambertin, both exceptional, and you could round this out as a fabulous dinner flight with Joseph Roty’s Charmes-Chambertin ‘Très Vieilles Vignes’. (Indeed, why not add the aforementioned Roumier Ruchottes?)

This is a crème de la crème list of vineyards and producers who did the quality of work in the vineyards to deliver the best side of the 2000 vintage. If you have overlooked this vintage I suggest you try it – we could all do with a bit of its exuberant charm now and then.

¹ Allen D. Meadows and Douglas E. Barzelay (2018) Burgundy Vintages: A History from 1845, p468