Vintages 3

Champagne’s Noughties – The New Millennium 2000-2009

A nightmare and three wonders

2000 6/10

Well kept wines can still impress, especially from top houses. But this is not often remarkably long-lived. There’s often a dry and tense apricot note, pleasant to many drinkers; quite rich and full, but not often wines with the greatest finesse. Some can seem blurry.
Spring and flowering were promising but July was sodden, with vastly more rain than normal. Mildew, some hail and rot affected red grapes especially in the Marne and Montagne but Chardonnays developed well and the Côte des Blancs made the best vins clairs; most agree it’s a ‘Chardonnay year’. August and September were warm and fine mostly, and harvest began on September 11th.

2001 3/10

Generally execrable, the worst year since 1984, posssibly worse. Frosts in the early season caused rot and mildews. Some brief warm respite in July and August, but September was cold, cloudy and soaking. Harvest began September 20th with average potential alcohol only 8.5%. A disaster. Maybe a screwtop fizz from somewhere else was better, as in the photo.

2002 9/10

A great year. Forget phoenix, this is the diamond from the ashes of 2001. How did that happen? The flowering went well; the summer was mild, very dry, and heat came in August and September before harvest on the 14th. Some August rain caused some rot but in other areas was a useful filip. The yield was bountiful and the grapes largely disease free. Cold nights and stiff breezes before harvest performed a miracle of ‘passerillage’, a rare natural concentration of the bunches. Potential alcohol rose to 10.3%, not far from some of the warmest years. Overall acidity is moderate, lower than the other two lauded vintages of this period: 1996 and 2008, but the density and finesse is there. The balance of the wines which are still in middle age of the best examples, is impressive.
Occasionally you see 2002s which have turned a corner and lost their energy. But kept well, from good houses and domaines, these wines have majestic harmony and long finishes that beggar mere words. In particualr there can be a purity of flavour and true champagne maturity way beyond ‘fruit’ that imparts true legacy. The reputation of the year has grown even with time, surely the best testimony. And the variation of disgorgement dates, essentially a carnival of of variety, offers fans the differences between the flavours of age since disgorgement and those relatively recently disgorged after vast time on lees. As always, provenance will out. The best will be the best kept.

2003 3/10

A freak year, marked by two major events. First, devstating frost in the first half of April, particularly on the Côte des Blancs, taking some 40% of the crop there. Hail also destroyed hundreds of hecatares of crop. Then came great heat all summer, further reducing yield and making for thick-skinned grapes. Potential alcohol reached 10.6% and the musts were often coloured and heavy with phenolics (microscopic tannins). The harvest from 21st August, was the earliest ever since 1822 and the smallest for 81 years. The resulting vins clairs were often rich, simple, soft and not vintage quality. Where the producer had vast options to select and blend from, respectable wines were made. But the style tends to be beefy and mildly suffocating, depending on your taste. Hard to find, given not many vintage wines were made in the first place. Nervertheless, I remember Richard Geoffroy lauding Dom Perignon 2003 to the skies.

2004 8/10

The largest crop ever, with some estimates of the natural yield as over 24,000 kg/ha, although only an average of near 14,000 could be legally pressed. The vines’ vigour sprang from carbohydrate root stores unused by the frost-smashed truncated crop of 2003. A huge harvest was sealed by a very good flowering, in spite of rain in August which swelled grapes. Warm weather alternated with gloom but those who waited a bit longer once harvest began on September 18th, picked the best fruit as it became increasingly fine and the extra time on the vine rewarded growers with fresher, more mature, tense and aromatically complex wines. The best wines have aged well and 2004’s reputation for its top exponents has grown.

2005 6/10

The hard winter preceded slightly late budding but then a healthy flowering in good June conditions. The summer recorded off-on rain and heat and harvest began on September 9th and was finished in warm, sunny conditions. The season’s instability meant only the truly fastidious top quality growers made good grapes with balance and finesse and this shows in the variability of the finished wines. The best have adequate intensity and finesse, but many seem unnspiring and short. It can be a lottery and good advice should be relied on if you consider buying now and you should try to taste. Charles Heidsieck’s 2005 caught my eye on release and is one of the best still if kept well.

2006 7.5/10

A long winter, late spring but a successful flowering in a calm and warmer June. July was hot and hopes were high before a wet August and some rot. September dawned warm and rather wonderful and harvest was in near perfect conditions from September 9th. For years many 2006s seemed four-square, rather plump and often short of energy and sophisticated aromas. But time, especially to those given long lees age in perfect cellars, has been kinder and there is renewed interest in 2006s with well-established provenance. We are often told the wines from the grands crus are generally superior in this year and its true many have matured well and I have not seen many truly far-flung very good examples – with the Exception of a long-aged Drappier 2006 tasted in 2022.

2007 7.5/10

A strange summer in spring with April showing 30C and the vines two weeks ahead. Then came winter in summer, cool and grey in August, although no hail as in 2003. It stopped raining in mid-August and harvest began with this combination of very advanced plots and parcels of retarded grapes and some rot in many areas. Planning the picking and extreme selection were vital and the best at this made the best champagne. The most painstaking were those who delayed each sector and parcel until things were properly ripe, not just sugar but physiological maturity, and Larmandier-Bernier, now others, invested in a sorting table to work over the pick for final quality selection. In general the wines often show with a lively cut and tension but no great concentration or compexity with development. There are exceptions but the 2007s are notoriously variable. Often pretty, rarely profound.

2008 9.5/10

A year in the same league as 1996, many 1990s, 2002, 2004 and 2012, although they are all different in their excellence. It did not begin well; winter was very cold, spring was cool and there was some frost damage. May was warmer but June cool and flowering was diffcult. Little cheer came with July and August overcast and cool, verason slow and mildew fairly common. Then the miracle. September was hot with cool nights and drying breezes and harvest began on the 15th and went perfectly. Average alcohol was 9.8% yet acidities were high at 8.1 g/L (SO2), way above the 10 year average of 7.1g/L. pH was encouragingly very low at 2.98. The top producers have made superlative wines which are still in many cases, relative babies.
Development seems stately and at 15 years old the top wines show no sign of plateauing yet. There is real nerve and race allied to textures of real finesse and very subtle and sophisticated flavours. There are some less than totally successful efforts, so some checking and advice, as always, is important. The weaker wines seem shrill, as if the tense precision overall has not been tempered enough by blending. But the big names, whether house or domaine, have often made gold.

2009 7.5/10

2009 has become overshadowed by the reputation of 2008 but is in fact a sleeping pearl. Maybe it does not have quite the majestic precision and power of 2008, but it is a very good vintage which Champagne was rather enthusiastic about from the start. The spring was not auspicious with problematic fruit set in some places at flowering. Then the sun shone, pretty much uninterruptedly into August (some welcome rain) and September. The crop was pretty large, harvest began on the 8th of September and the grapes were healthy with little or no rot. Above all, although it was a hot year, there is often impeccable balance and satisfying length to the champagnes. Most agree that Pinot Noir has done very well, but there are terrific examples of Blanc de Blancs. I sometimes wonder if many 2009s were released too early, before many 2008s which were rightly taking their time. Those given extensive time on lees from good sites are usually very impressive. Pierre Péters ‘Chetillons’ is superb, as is Moët’s Grand Vintages. Agnès Corbon in Avize made a very impressive ‘Bacchantes 2009.’