2001 Bordeaux Vintage

A very wet winter opened the season. From October 2000 to March 2001, the Faculte d'Oenologie's weather station at the Domaine de la Grande Ferrade in Villenave d'Ornon recorded 1,004 mm of rain, almost double the 20-year average of 556 mm and more than the normal for a whole year (886 mm); the nearest comparable total (944 mm) was in the winter of 1982 to 1983. The winter was also mild, with December 3.3 degrees C above normal, and the vines started early. April was wet too, 58 mm above normal, and around 20 April a short cold spell brought frosts that did significant damage in limited zones without affecting the overall Bordeaux crop. May and June were warmer than normal and much drier, with 66 mm of rain against a normal 129 mm. Flowering began in the last week of May and was rapid and apparently even; mid-flowering of the red varieties came on 7 June, a week ahead of the 30-year average but 4 days behind the previous decade. Wine Spectator, by contrast, reported an uneven flowering and poor berry set at many leading estates. July brought 103 mm of rain, twice normal, 90 percent of it in the first 20 days, which were also cool, before a hot, dry final ten days. Around 22 July a hailstorm hit very localized zones in a few communes of the Entre-deux-Mers, doing significant damage for some growers. A large part of the summer was wet and dreary, in Wine Spectator's description, with things changing for the better at the end of August. August was hot, 1.9 degrees C above normal, and mid-veraison of the red varieties came on 12 August, a week behind 2000. September ran cooler than normal, topping 25 degrees on only 6 days with no day at 30 degrees or more; its rain was close to normal overall, falling in heavy showers around 22 September, and ripening ended in a long, cool, moderately humid spell. Early mildew attacks followed the wet winter and did damage where growers were not vigilant, before the pressure eased sharply. Many leading estates made a smaller crop than in 2000, with some harvesting 15 percent to 20 percent fewer grapes than usual.

Dry whites came first. Sauvignon Blanc picking began in Pessac-Leognan on 7 September, in other appellations from 10 September, and Semillon from 13 September; the greatest white terroirs were mostly ready before 20 September, in cool, dry weather. For the reds, Pessac-Leognan, Lalande de Pomerol, Pomerol and Saint-Emilion were set to start on Merlot and Malbec on 20 September, other red appellations on 24 September and the Medoc on 1 October. On the Right Bank, Pomerol and the earlier sites of Saint-Emilion began the week of 24 September; most Pomerol chateaux had finished by 2 October, and Petrus was picked on 27 and 28 September. Rain fell there on 23 September (40 to 60mm) and on 28 September and 3 October (15 to 30mm), between warm spells that reached 28C on 1 and 2 October. The cool temperatures meant some growers had to delay picking beyond the dates first planned. In the Graves, most chateaux were due to finish their reds on 9 October, and the harvest at Chateau Haut Lagrange ran generally about a week later than 2000. On 15 October some Medoc growers on colder, more backward sites still had a few plots to pick, after hot, sunny weather the previous week.

The Faculte d'Oenologie judged the success of the sweet wines remarkable for most of the crop and every sweet appellation, and wrote that 2001 would certainly be the vintage of great renown for this type of wine (translated). Botrytis developed very quickly on ripe, sugar-rich grapes, and October's small, well-spread rains, high temperatures and a light, dry wind on sunny afternoons gave concentrated musts with the "roti" character typical of noble rot. In Sauternes the first tries began in mid-September, with pickers at Chateau d'Yquem in the vineyards on 18 and 19 September; rain on 28 September followed by exceptional heat helped the noble rot develop, and a concerted burst of picking came the week of 8 October. Xavier Ponty of Chateau Guiraud told Decanter: "The botrytis is extremely pure, the juice delicious and the aromas sublime." Wine Spectator reported that the sweet whites of Sauternes and Barsac were said to resemble those of the legendary 1990 vintage, and comparisons with 1990 and 1989 were already being made.

• Botrytis developed very quickly on ripe, sugar-rich grapes, helped by small, well-spread October rains
• Sauternes: first tries in mid-September; Yquem's pickers were out on 18 and 19 September
• Chateau Guiraud's Xavier Ponty told Decanter: "We picked 70% of the harvest that week" (the week of 8 October)

The Faculte d'Oenologie found the red grapes arrived at the end of ripening in very good, if not exceptional, condition, but with quality more uneven than in 2000, as soils and vineyard management made a large difference. The reds were marked by fruit and freshness, with fine color and a dense, harmonious tannic structure, and the best wines, from great terroirs with limited yields, have a richness and complexity that bring them close to the greatest wines, in the Faculte d'Oenologie's judgment. Sugar levels did not reach those of 2000, which had more than 1 degree higher potential alcohol for both Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Sauvignon acidity was clearly higher. In the Medoc, Decanter found the Merlot and Petit Verdot excellent and the Cabernets more difficult; yields were unexpectedly low, and the year may be more uneven than 2000, a "vigneron's vintage". The Faculte d'Oenologie reported general success with Sauvignon and Semillon for the dry whites, with an aromatic power and freshness rarely reached in Bordeaux, and Denis Dubourdieu told Decanter: "2001 will undoubtedly be a white wine year." Jean-Guillaume Prats of Cos d'Estournel in Saint-Estephe said of the reds: "It is a cross between 1986 and 1988, two classic years for Bordeaux." Frederic Engerer of Latour in Pauillac said: "Those people who worked seriously in their vineyards did well in 2001." At Branaire-Ducru in Saint-Julien there was a little rain at the start of the harvest and good weather for the rest of it.