Producer note: Mme. Bize reports that her yields were "a bit" lower than in 1999 and the grapes came in with good sugar levels and excellent acidities. She observed that because the 2000 growing season was quite warm, it was more important to limit yields and pick early as the grapes had more than adequate sugar levels; in fact, she says it was not necessary to chaptalize any of the wines. When I asked her what other vintage(s) might be a good parallel to 2000, she remarked that the wines reminded her of 1996 because they are so pure and balanced, even if 2000 doesn't quite enjoy the same acid structure. As can be seen by the scores, the wines are nothing short of sensational and 2000 is one of the finest vintages I have ever tasted chez d'Auvenay. Yes, the prices are painful but the wines are not to be missed. I tasted the range in November and they were bottled just before the harvest. As I noted in Issue 5, collectors of the d'Auvenay and Leroy wines will see a new bottle with a deeper punt and dramatically sloping shoulders for the 2000 vintage. Tasting note: After the sheer brilliance of the Criots, it was frankly difficult to imagine that there was yet another level but this wine delivered it. Though there isn't the sheer density of extract, the focus, detail, minerality and elegance were positively ethereal as this too delivers unreal complexity and this is simply one of the classiest wines I have ever tasted. The flavors are very linear, tight and unyielding yet the underlying material is so good that this comes across as an almost perfect sphere of qualities. Intense, penetrating, driving, palate staining and crystalline in its precision with a finish that I could taste the next day. Another reference standard effort and if this adds additional weight over time, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if my rating were conservative, hard as that is to believe. Profound Chevalier.

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