Anne’s Comments
We are still pursuing our efforts to an organic culture of our vineyards but under the pressure of rainfalls and high temperatures we deemed that using synthetic fungal treatments against mildew would be preferable.
Flowering happened well and we expected abundant and early harvest. After a meticulous work of thinning and green harvesting, we were lucky to benefit from an exceptional September first fortnight.
Sunshine and water deficit led us to start picking the 20th of September. Unfortunately night rains began to fall on the eve of harvest making painful conditions to work in our ploughed soils.
Hopefully the quality of grapes didn’t have time to be deteriorated and the grapes we put in vats were extremly rich in sugar. The thick skins gave us intense coloured wines with structured and width tannins.
The abundance and the quality of concentration of our 99 harvest has no equal in our previous vintages. No doubt that we will remind us in our brain and palate for this end of century.
We were also happy to vinify for the first time our Hautes Côtes de Nuits blanc which is actually an exotic treat… To discover…
journalists’ Comments
Bourgogne Blanc 1999 :
The Vine – Clive Coates – Février 2000 : Stylish and gently oaky. Lovely balanced fruit. Very good. From 2001.
Bourgogne Rouge 1999 :
The Wine Advocate : The medium ruby-colored 1999 Anne Gros Bourgogne has delightful, sweet, redcherry aromas.
Medium-bodied and satin-textured, it coats the palate with loads of candied raspberries and cherries as well as perfectly ripened tannin. The wonderful Bourgogne should be consumed over the next 5 years.
www.blackink.de : Fine cherry red. Good fruit, wood and cherry. Warm finish. A good Bourgogne.
The Vine – Clive Coates – Février 2000 : Ready for bottling, en masse, SO2 adjusted. It seems plump, stylish and balanced. From 2002.
Burghound, 2001 : (30% new oak). Despite the sporty yields of 65 hl/ha, it shows amazing density of both fruit and rich flavors with silky tannins. There is a lovely range of nuance here for the appellation and it will drink well young but should benefit from several years in the cellar. A stunningly good Bourgogne.
The Fine Wine Review – N°80 – 2001 : The Bourgogne (84-87) has nice cherry and blackberry fruit with medium weigh and concentration. This drink well within a year or two of its bottling.
Chambolle-Musigny-La Combe d’Orveau 1999 :
www.blackink.de : Good color, very fine, open fragrance. Bitter cacao and vanilla. In the mouth very fine tannin, dark cherries, tabacco. Can be enjoyed soon, best with about six or seven years.
The Vine – Clive Coates – Février 2000 : Very elegant and poised. Lovely fruit. Balanced and complex. Very good indeed for a village example. From 2004.
Burghound, 2001 : Chambolle-Musigny “La Combe d’Orveau”: (50% new oak and yields of 40 hl/ha). Good density of fruit and flavors with nice spice, supple tannins and quality length. Solid villages but pound for pound, the Bourgogne is better.
The Fine Wine Review – N°80 – 2001 : The village Chambolle-Musigny, La Combe d’Orveau (85-88) has rich, ripe blackberry fruit. The wine is a bit coarse, no doubt due to the sandy soils, but delicious.
Vosne-Romanée 1999 :
The Wine Advocate : Les Barreaux. The ruby-colored, dark rasperry-scented 1999 Anne Gros Vosne-Romanee Les Barreaux has a medium-bodied personality. It is masculine wine with excellent depth of powerful, sweet, blackberry and cherry flavors. Projected maturity : 2003-2009.
www.blackink.de : Dark, still some light violet tones. Elderberry, blackcurrant. In the mouth spices, fine tannin, tabacco, blakberry jam and relatively high wood. A very good elegant and full-bodied Village.
The Vine – Clive Coates – Février 2000 : Concentrated and intense and splendidly poised. Really classy. This is very lovely, especially for a village example. Very fine for what it is. From 2004/2005.
The Fine Wine Review – N°80 – 2001 : The village Vosne-Romanée- Les Barraults (86-89) shows blackberry fruit and more finesse than the Chambolle. The fruit is deep here, but not terrible complex. Tannins on the finish.
Burghound, 2001 : Vosne-Romanée “Les Barreaux”: (a lieu-dit situated high on the Vosne slope above Cros Parantoux 50% new oak and made from 50 hl/ha yields). Very black color with spicy Vosne fruit but the higher yields show up here as the mid-palate is lacking a bit of density. Quite long and reasonably intense with silky tannins and nice as it is but it lacks convincing flavor authority.
Richebourg
The vine – Clive Coates – juin 2004 : Veru fine colour. Marvellous nose. Full, concentrated , rich, profound, very elegant and complex. Still very young. Full body. Excellent grip. Very concentrated. Very fine tannins. This is clearly superior to the more recent vintages. Splendid fruit. Very, very long and multi-dimensional. A great wine! 2012-2042. 20
The Wine Advocate : The similarly-colored 1999 Anne Gros Richebourg has a show-stopping, awesome nose of raspberries, strawberries, roses, red currants, candied cherries, and violets. It is a penetrating, feminine, elegant, and precise, medium to full-bodied wine. While being intensely refined and highly delineated, it sacrifices nothing in power and concentration. This exceptional offering possesses all the components for greatness. Its structure is formed by loads of super-ripe tannin, and its personality is dominated by hugely dense layers of fruit. Projected maturity : 2006-2017
Decanter – Clive Coates – Décembre 2003 : Great complexity, commanding presence, mind-blowing fruit. Closed-in now but will be quite outstanding. (Last tasted 27.06.03). 2010-2030.
Burghound.com – January 2002 : (from a .6 ha parcel). Astonishingly dense, sexy, spicy fruit with huge flavors of earth, black cherries and cedar are followed by wave after wave of amazing complexity. Quite tannic but the tannins are so wrapped in velvet that one barely notices them. Fireworks in a glass and one of the wines of the vintage. Expensive but worth it. 94/2009-18
www.blackink.de : Dark blackberry red, not quite clear yet. Still closed. Avery complex aroma. In the mouth fullness, tannin, wood, full dark fruit, spices, chocolate and tabacco. Very pure, very elegant, very powerful. A grand sumptuous wine.
The Vine – Clive Coates – Février 2000 : Marvellous depht and harmony, power and distinction. Great fruit. Impeccably balanced and intense. I can’t fault this. Indisputably great. From 2009.
The Fine Wine Review – N°80 – 2001 : The richebourg (88-92 (+?)) (43 hl/ha, 13.6-7° alcohol) has black plum and spice aromas and an explosion of black rasberry fruit on the palate. This is more elegant than the Clos-de-vougeot with smooth tannins and fine balance. The finish seemed a bit short, however.
Burghound, 2001 : 1999 Richebourg : (from a .6 ha parcel). One of the superstars of the vintage and even though the oak is quite pronounced today, there is so much material that the wine should be able to absorb it without difficulty. Astonishingly dense, sexy, spicy fruit with huge flavors of earth, black cherries and cedar are followed by wave after wave of amazing complexity. Quite tannic but the tannins are so wrapped in velvet that you barely notice them. As good as the Clos de Vougeot is, it seems positively rustic by comparison. Flat out terrific!
Clive Coates Février 2012 : similar colour. The basic difference is sheer class. this is a little fuller and more concentrated. Perhaps a bit richer and more vigorous. But the breed here is remarkable. Quite brilliant.
Clos Vougeot
The Wine Advocate : Smoked bacon, juniper berries, candle wax, and cherries can be found in the nose of the medium to dark ruby-colored 1999 Anne Gros Clos Vougeot Le Grand Maupertui. This full-bodied, chewy-textured, highly extracted wine is crammed with pain grillé, blackberry syrup, Asian spices, and bacon. It is intense, plush, delineated, and has outstanding depth. Projected maturity : 2005-2015.
Burghound.com – January 2002 : (80% new oak and yields of 43 hl/ha from the sub-climat of Grand Maupertui). Intense red and black fruits mixed with subtle traces of oak spice followed by gorgeous medium weight, ripe, round and very intense flavors. Serious, austere for the vintage and blessed with superb length. Another terrific Anne Gros Clos de Vougeot that should be accessible relatively soon though last well. 92/2007-15.
www.blackink.de : From a climate directly beneath Grands Echezeaux. Light blackberry red. Spices and wood. In the mouth vanilla from the wood, mature tannin, pepper, blackcurrant, chocolate and touches of venison, terroir and leather. Long finish, a full-bodied wine.
The Fine Wine Review – N°80 – 2001 : Gros’s Clos de Vougeot (88-91) (42hl/ha here, 13.8° alcohol) has intense dark fruit aromas. On the palate, the texture is sappy, but there is more purity to the black fruit.
Burghound, 2001 : Clos de Vougeot: (80% new oak and yields of 43 hl/ha). Somewhat reduced but after some swirling, revealed intense red and black fruits with gorgeous medium weight flavors. The grapes were harvested at a potential alcohol level of 13.8% and there is a slightly roasted quality to the fruit but not enough to seriously interfere with the strong sense of the underlying terroir. Excellent potential and the length here is very impressive.
Clive Coates février 2012 : fine, full, vigorous colour. Only barely mature. rich, ample, concentrated nose. Fullish body. Ripe and round and succulent.Vigorous but a point. Balanced and complex and long on the palate. Perhaps not the greatest finesse but delicious.