old and the wines still require more time in bottle. Thus, I am trying to gently push us forward without sacrificing those fundamental aspects of why our clients like our wines in the first place. In particular, one of the things that were doing that I see as extremely promising is working with the fine lees in vintages where we are able to do that. In 2002 for example, we didn't rack at all until some of the wines were transferred to stainless to finish their élevage; some of the wines were not racked until October, the rest not until December and in the case of Taillepieds and Rugiens, they still have not been racked. We have also reduced moderately the percentage of whole bunch fermentations and we will continue to adapt this to the characteristics of each vintage; in 2002, it varied quite a bit though the average wine saw between 25 and 45%, though the extremes were from 0% to 80%. We benefit from cold cellars and several of our wines did not completely finish their malos until October! Overall, 2002 is an excellent vintage for us and it's one that reminds me of 1985 because of the relatively silky tannins. We chaptalized none of our wines, not even the Bourgogne and the pHs were impeccable. As the scores suggest, this is a spectacular set of wines and many of them are highly recommended. As I mentioned in Issue 10, 2003 will see two news wines as the domaine purchased 2.5 ha combined of two Beaune 1ers: Les Perrières and Les Sizies. I can also tell you that the domaine continues to be acquisitive and just announced that it purchased its first grand cru with 1.05 ha of 35 year old vines in Corton-Pougets, 40% of which is planted to chardonnay for the production of Corton-Charlemagne and the rest to pinot noir for a Corton-Pougets. The first vintage for these appellations will be 2004. In still further news, Etienne and his sister Alix, have decided to create a small négociant operation under the play-on-words name Maison Les Deux Montille. It will specialize in whites though for the 2003 vintage, there is one red, a Corton-Renardes. It will only buy grapes and not must and as Alix was at one time married to Jean-Marc Roulot, she freely credits him with having taught her much about the production of high quality whites. She candidly says that she aspires to create wines that Jean-Marc would find interesting yet be different. I tasted the 2003s and while it is too soon to issue specific tasting notes, I can say they appear very promising in the context of a challenging vintage. (Beaune Imports, Berkeley, CA, Martin Scott Wines, Lake Success, NY and Veritas Imports, Beverly Hills, CA; Berry Brothers & Rudd, O.W. Loeb, Bibendum, Howard Ripley, The Wine Society and Haynes, Hanson & Clark, all UK). This possesses perhaps the most complex nose here with a simply dazzling array of red and black fruits, minerals, underbrush and a hint of leather followed by extract of pinot flavors that are lush and incredibly precise and intense at the same time. Extremely pure, vibrant and focused with astonishing length yet for all the impressive components, this remains at its essence a wine of subtlety and understatement as it combines everything into an exquisitely balanced and harmonious whole. In sum, this is a classic Pommard but a Pommard of real beauty.
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