2000 was an excellent growing season. Flowering took place early and fairly successfully; some grapes were lost to coulure but most growers regarded this as a wholly beneficial piece of crop-thinning saving them the trouble of having to reduce the yield subsequently by `green-harvesting'. July was cool, delaying ripening, but overall the season was the hottest of the past decade, and the harvest took place under clear skies. A violent storm on September 12th wreaked havoc in certain Côte de Beaune vineyards, reducing the crop and forcing serious growers to do some severe sorting of the harvested fruit.

The most noticeable and attractive feature of the vintage is the glorious quality and purity of the fruit; healthy, ripe grapes have yielded wines with truly sumptuous aromas and great succulence on the palate. Acidity and tannins in are generally lower than the fabulous 1999s, and as a result the wines will be beautiful to drink young but will not have the staying power and potential longevity of the 1999s. As a general rule, the wines from the Côte de Nuits are superior to those from the Côte de Beaune, but, even more so than usual, the producer is key in 2000.