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 wines are broadly similar to the 1999s: ripe, concentrated and balanced. Although, analytically, acidity levels are close to those of 1999 the perception of the wines on the palate is that they seem to be a little less fat with a more pronounced minerality; they are perhaps a little more classically fine and elegant. Certainly, in the hands of the top growers, the 2000 whites could well prove to be exceptional.