2000 Bordeaux… “The First Vintage of the Millennium.”
2009 Bordeaux wine is thought of by most tasters, writers and critics as one the great Bordeaux vintages of all time. 2010 Bordeaux has its fans as well. Some people are already hailing 2009 a vintage of the century. Those comments are being made about 2005 Bordeaux as well. With that in mind, earlier this year, along with Robert Parker and a few other people, (about 8 in all,) we took a look back at 2000 Bordeaux, the first vintage of the century, this century, as well as the debut vintage of the millennium.
2000 Bordeaux wine did not have an auspicious birth. Vineyards on both banks suffered from mildew. From May through July, the weather managed to cooperate from time to time, with alternating periods of heat and cool temperatures. By mid-summer, while it was still early, no one expected a great vintage. Starting with August, the weather improved dramatically and September was perfect! The harvest took place under sublime, warm and dry, conditions. Pomerol, which always picks first, began harvesting Merlot on September 14. Pickers in the Left Bank concluded their harvest by early October. Things might have gotten off to a slow start, but by the time the grapes were picked and on their way to being fermented, growers, Bordeaux wine makers in the Right Bank, Medoc and Pessac Leognan, along with everyone else knew they had something special on their hands with their 2000 Bordeaux wine!
10 years after a vintage is a good time to start looking at how the wines are developing. In March, 2010 I participated in a tasting of 2000 Bordeaux wine which offered a good look at how the wines were evolving. The style of the 2000 Bordeaux vintage is impressive. 2000 Bordeaux wines are ripe, round, balanced and concentrated with quality fruit and in most cases silky tannins. The 2000 Bordeaux wines have the structure to age and evolve for decades.
2000 Bordeaux produced stellar wines from both banks. Many petit chateaux also made fine wine. Those are some of the key factors needed when declaring 2000 Bordeaux a vintage great.
While the top 2000 Bordeaux wines should continue improving for decades, it’s advisable that consumers holding the smaller wines start drinking them while the fruit remains fresh. Some of the more tannic, 2000 Bordeaux Left Bank wines did not express the same degree of roundness and fruit noted in earlier tastings. However, because those wines require another 10-20 more years to mature, it is a good possibility the wines will score even better than they did at this tasting. 2000 Bordeaux Pomerol and St. Emilion both produced wines of stunning quality, richness and purity. Most of the top Right Bank wines are not mature; however, due to their high Merlot content, many Right Bank wines can be opened and enjoyed today.
If you want to read about the best Bordeaux value wines from 2000 Bordeaux and from other vintages, Bordeaux Wine Buying Guide Find the Best Bordeaux for the money to buy today (Vintages 1959 to today) If you are interested in reading detailed weather reports on the growing season and the harvest, Bordeaux Year to Year Detailed Vintage and Harvest Reports Guide 1900 to Today.
These 2000 Bordeaux wines were not tasted blind and were tasted during a single morning session. Most of the bottles were double decanted two hours prior to the tasting. All wines were obtained at release and have been stored perfectly since that time. All notes, comments and scores were written while tasting the wines.
The 2000 Bordeaux wines were organized by region, from Left Bank to Right Bank, starting in the Northern Medoc with St. Estephe, going from north to south to Graves, before hitting Pomerol and concluding with St. Emilion.
2000 Left Bank Bordeaux wine…
2000 Branon with its jammy black fruit, oak and licorice filled nose is plush, rich, polished and intense. This is a very suave, stylish style of Bordeaux wine. 94 Pts
2000 Calon Segur showed a spice, mineral tobacco and earthy nose. But the pleasure stopped there. This full bodied wine was filled with mouth drying tannins along with a brawny, masculine, old school, Bordeaux wine personality. 86 Pts
2000 Carmes Haut Brion with its leafy, black raspberry and fennel nose is an elegantly styled wine that’s already showing well. 90 Pts
2000 d’Armailhac offered secondary notes of tobacco, earth and truffle. This medium bodied wine did not seem fully ripe. The flavors in the finish edged to the red fruit side. 87 Pts
2000 D’Issan expresses spice, black fruit, cedar and tobacco in the nose. This full bodied wine is already approachable. While not overly complex, this traditionally styled wine ends in a long, black fruit filled finish. 91 Pts
2000 Ducru Beaucaillou started off with an interesting mix of orange, floral, spice, black fruit and licorice scents. Big, intense and concentrated, this deep wine offers a lot of finesse and texture in its long, intense, ripe, fruit filled finish. 95 Pts
2000 Gruaud Larose offered an earthy nose with black fruit, spice and wood. This Bordeaux wine is big, intense and concentrated. But the finish was short. 91 Pts
2000 Haut Bergey opens with black raspberry, oak and jammy blackberry and dark raspberry scents. Soft in texture, this ripe, fruit filled wine is already very expressive. 91 Pts
2000 Haut Brion is filled with tobacco, tar, cassis, black fruit, herbs and caramel scents. Soft, round, elegant, harmonious, concentrated, fresh and refined define the wine. This Bordeaux wine is pure silk and velvet offering a lot of polish and finesse in the long, seamless finish. 97 Pts
2000 Bahans Haut Brion opens with an earthy, smoke and tobacco nose. Already mature, this light wine ends with some drying sensations. 86 Pts
2000 Kirwan has a black fruit and licorice filled perfume. The wine offers good texture and reasonable concentration, but lacks excitement. It’s ready to drink. 88 Pts
2000 Lafite Rothschild offered an aromatic display of spice, cedar, graphite, blackberry and cassis. The wine is lush, rich and mouth filling with round tannins, freshness, purity and an intensity of flavors. Another decade or two will add a lot of character and complexity to this wine. 97 Pts
2000 Latour is packed with cassis, minerals, toasty oak and ample layers of ripe black fruits. Rich, concentrated and filled with depth of flavor, this special wine offers beautiful purity. Everything is in balance. The wine truly coats your palate with flavor and sensations. The long finish is round and complex. With more bottle age, this could hit triple digits. 99 Pts
2000 Forts Latour with its black fruit, cassis and leafy aromas was ready to drink as the tannins seemed resolved. 88 Pts
2000 Leoville Barton is filled with black fruit, truffles and spice in the perfume. Normally, this is a big, brooding, old school wine that takes decades to shed its ample tannin. 2000 is a refined vintage for this Chateau. The wine is already showing well. 92 Pts
2000 Leoville Las Cases kicks into high gear with a perfume of truffle, smoke, tobacco, cassis, spice and blackberry. This very concentrated, dense, full bodied wine is still tannic and demands another 10-15 years before opening up. It’s possible the wine will score higher as it develops. 95 Pts
2000 Leoville Poyferre is stuffed with smoke, spice, black fruit, cassis and caramel in the perfume. The wine is rich and concentrated with ripe fruit and round tannins. This is a plush, opulent and stylish Leoville Poyferee. 95 Pts
2000 Lynch Bages begins with cedar, herbs, cassis and ripe black fruits. Polished in style, with some tannin needing to be resolved, the wine ends with a black and red fruit filled finish. I’ve had better bottles of this wine on other occasions. 93 Pts
2000 Malescot St. Exupery opens up with floral, cassis, orange blossom and spice aromatics. This fresh wine is mouth filling and elegant, ending with a ripe black fruit filled finish. This vintage marked the reemergence of this famed Chateau. Successive vintages continue improving. It’s a property to watch. 93 Pts
2000 Marojallia offers an intriguing perfume of truffle, earth, mocha, blackberry and black cherry scents. This is a very sexy style of Margaux that combines plush, opulent textures with ripe, round fruit. 94 Pts
2000 Margaux is a rock star! There is no other way to say it. Intense aromatics start with a mélange of spices, floral notes, perfectly ripe cassis, blackberry and Cuban tobacco. On the palate is where the wine takes off! Perfectly polished layers of pure, ripe fruit fill every nook and cranny of your mouth. Everything is in balance with velvet like textures that conclude with an endless bath of ripe, black fruit and silky textures. The sublime finish is seamless. If this wine is already this stunning at 10, when fully mature, this will be off the charts. This is one of the finest young vintages of Margaux I recall tasting. Life is too short not to taste this wine and hopefully have at least a few bottles of it in your cellar. 100 Pts
2000 Pavillon Rouge is a soft, approachable, medium bodied wine of finesse that is already mature. 88 Pts
2000 La Mission Haut Brion blasts off with cassis, ripe black fruit, blackberry, spice, smoke and truffle aromatics. The texture is an incredible blend of opulence, concentration and depth. The wine is intense, fresh and pure. Everything is in balance from start to finish, ending with multiple layers of pure silk, and velvet power coupled with a complex array of perfectly ripe dark fruits. 99 Pts
2000 La Chapelle de La Mission Haut Brion offers a spicy, tobacco, black fruit filled nose. The wine is already drinking well. 86 Pts
2000 Mouton Rothschild starts off with smoke, herbs, cassis and Asian spice in the perfume. The texture is soft, plush and round. But the wine lacks the same level of power, intensity and purity found in the top wines of the vintage. 95 Pts
2000 Montrose with its black fruit and cassis filled nose also expressed notes of earth, forest floor and oak tones. Big, dense and concentrated, this structured wine needs time. The wine ends with a blast of black fruit and freshness. 93 Pts
2000 Pape Clement shows jammy black fruit, anise, tobacco and black cherry tones. This is big, fat, ripe and intense. 94 Pts
2000 Palmer begins with an powerful display of dark fruit and black raspberry scents along with truffles, flowers, earth and exotic hints of citrus oil. The wine has great freshness and depth along with an intensity of flavor that keeps you interested. 96 Pts
2000 Pichon Baron gets better every time I taste it! Cassis, cedar, ripe black fruit, tobacco and spice make up the intense perfume. This powerful, intense wine is filled with layers of plush, ripe black fruit. This wine has no hard edges and offers pleasure in every sip. As good as it is, it’s only going to get better. It pairs high quality, great style, complexity and the ability to age as well as improve. And it’s available for a fair price in today’s market. 96 Pts
2000 Pichon Lalande with its red and black fruit filled nose is further complicated with earth, wood, spice, olive tapenade and tobacco notes. The wine has good concentration and depth, along with silky textures, but there was a minor hint of green in the finish. 93 Pts
2000 Pontet Canet shows black fruit, tobacco, cherry and herbs in the nose. Full bodied and concentrated, with slightly rustic tannins, the wine ends with ample black fruit in the finish. This needs another 5 years. 90 Pts
2000 Sociando Mallet introduced itself with pepper, black cherry and BBQ spice notes. Concentrated with fruit, there were some green flavors and drying tannins in the finish. 88 Pts
2000 Smith Haut Lafitte kicks off with jammy, black fruit, oak and licorice notes. The wine is polished, round and clean, ending with soft, sweet black fruit flavors. 91 Pts
Right Bank 2000 Bordeaux Wine
2000 Angelus offers aromatics of ripe, black fruits, fresh herbs, minerals, spice and fennel. Packed and stacked with perfectly ripe fruit, coupled with textures akin to liquid silk, this intense, deep, plush, opulent wine fills your palate with layers of plums and black fruit. 97 Pts
2000 Ausone CORKED, both bottles! Now, that hurts!
2000 Barde Haut with scents of black raspberry, licorice and oak is soft and elegant on the palate. This is already drinking well. 90 Pts
2000 Beausejour Duffau-Lagreosse starts off with plums, minerality, herbs and truffle. Well made and without faults, there is no excitement or unique characteristic in the wine. 90 Pts
2000 Bellevue is filled with fresh herbs, crushed stone, black raspberry and plum aromatics. Soft, supple, fresh and filled with perfectly ripe dark fruit, this is developing nicely. 95 Pts
2000 Brane Cantenac opens with a red and black fruit filled perfume, complicated by notes of tobacco, forest and spice. Elegantly textured and medium bodied, most of the tannins have melted away. 90 Pts
2000 Canon La Gaffeliere with its licorice, blackberry, dark cherry, spice and fresh herb aromas is pleasing to smell. The wine is round, opulent and lush with ample fruit to keep you interested. 93 Pts
2000Certan de May already developed secondary characteristics with its truffle, chocolate and plum aromatics. The wine was medium bodied and lightly textured. The tannins did not feel fully ripe. I’d drink this sooner than later. 89 Pts
2000 Cheval Blanc offers a nose of black raspberry, flowers, herbs, plums, minerals, coconut, spice box is compelling. The wine marries intensity with balance, complexity, purity and an exotic style. The seamless finish of juicy, ripe plums and dark berries fills your mouth with pleasure and remains etched on your palate for close to sixty seconds! 100 Pts
2000 Clos L’Eglise greets you with a chocolate, floral, black plum perfume. This fat, rich, round, mouth filling wine is intense and opulently textured. The finish ends with ripe, dark fruit flavors with a hint of chocolate covered licorice. 94 Pts
2000 Clos de l’Oratoire is ready to drink. Ripe black raspberry, with hints of fennel, help define this charming wine. 90 Pts
2000 Clos St. Martin is open for business. Silk, elegance and ripe fruit are the hallmarks of this wine. Dark berries, minerality and juicy plums are made better by the opulent, velvet laden textures that coat your palate. 94 Pts
2000 La Clusiere is the real deal! Deep, intense layers of spicy, black fruit, plum, licorice and crushed stones jump from the glass. Incredible levels of concentrated dark ripe fruit stain your palate. Thick, rich, intense and balanced, this wine needs several years to open and reveal all its charms. Lucky buyers who picked this up for the original futures price scored! 98 Pts
2000 La Conseillante jumped from the glass! This stunningly aromatic wine, with its mélange of juicy, ripe black plums, black raspberry, flowers, truffle, mocha and spice gets you interested. The silky, velvet laced mouth feel keeps you wanting more. This decadent treat is a bottle of pure, sexed up pleasure. I’ve seen this recently at reasonable prices. This is a wine to buy! 97 Pts
2000 Croix de Labrie is a sexy little wine made for hedonists. Rich, velvety, plush waves of dark chocolate covered plums, licorice and minerals fill your palate. This 100% Merlot is drinking perfectly today. Owners should drink this wine young to capture its fruit and vitality. 94 Pts
2000 La Croix St. Georges kicks off with an exotic perfume filled with orange peel, floral, plum, toast and vanilla aromas. The opulent wine offers a long black raspberry and licorice tinged, velvety finish. A few more years should help better integrate the oak in the wine. 93 Pts
2000 L’Evangile is a refined style of Pomerol. Silky and concentrated, this rich, round wine is filled with plumy, blackberry, chocolate covered fruit. 95 Pts
2000 Figeac with a red and black fruit, herb and licorice nose was light in the palate. The wine did not taste fully ripe and the tannins were drying in the mouth. 84 Pts
2000 La Fleur de Gay offers a chocolate covered, blackberry and truffle nose. Between medium and full bodied, this soft textured wine finishes with an elegant, black raspberry and dark cherry profile. 91 Pts
2000 La Gomerie floods your pleasure centers with mounds of black raspberry, licorice, minerals, mocha and spice. Soft, plush, elegant and opulent, this full bodied wine feels great as it fills your mouth with intense fresh black plum and blackberry flavors. Close to fully mature, this will probably drink best over the next decade. 95 Pts
2000 Grand Mayne starts off with fresh herbs, juicy dark fruit, hints of licorice and chocolate. The wine is ripe, round and ready to drink. 90 Pts
2000 Lafleur is as good as it gets! It’s powerful, intense, opulent and filled with countless layers of decadent, perfectly ripe fruit. This was too good to spit! The complex perfume filled with truffle, chocolate covered fudge, minerals, earth and a cornucopia of ripe fruit was almost impossible to put down. The wine finishes with a kinky, exotic, (or is that erotic?) sensation that bathes your palate in waves of perfectly ripe and almost over ripe, dark cherries, plums and blackberries. The finish lasts over sixty seconds! 100 Pts
As an aside, 2 days earlier, we tasted 64 & 82 Lafleur at dinner. That same kinky, exotic cherry flavor and similar textures could be found in the older wines. IMO, 2000 is a better, more pure and cleaner wine. But I found it interesting that those characteristics were found in the 1964, 1982 and 2000.
2000 Magrez Fombrauge is packed and stacked with incredible layers of intense, ripe and over ripe black fruits, spice, coffee, licorice, oak and vanilla. This wine needs at least another decade before its port like style becomes civilized. This full-throttle styled Bordeauxwine is not for everyone. But for lovers of intensity that are willing to take a chance on a unique style of wine, it’s worth picking up a few bottles. This could score several points higher when fully mature. 95 Pts
2000 Monbousquet opens with ripe black fruit, coffee, mocha, oak, licorice and spice scents. The wine is rich, full bodied and is already at the perfect spot to enjoy. This should be enjoyed over the next 5 years to capture its essence. 92 Pts
2000 La Mondotte is stuffed to the gills with all the right stuff. Deep, dark and filled with perfectly ripe black fruit, minerality, floral and licorice tones. Still young, another decade will help this concentrated wine develop unique layers of complexity. 96 Pts
2000 Pavie is intense in all the right places. Waves of ripe, black fruit with truffle, licorice and crushed rocks grab your attention. Powerful, rich, concentrated, opulent and lush, this hedonistic wine is almost too much of a good thing. I said almost too much. The wine is perfectly balanced and is brimming with freshness and purity. The wine finishes with a mouth full of perfectly ripe, chocolate covered black raspberry and the essence of ripe along with almost over ripe, juicy black plums. 99 Pts
2000 Pavie Decesse is supple, rich, round, ripe, opulent and if that wasn’t enough, pure silk. Fresh flowers, chocolate covered berries, anise and hints of blue fruit filled the glass. The decadent mouth feel was worth the price of admission. Still young, this elegant wine will only get better. 96 Pts
2000 Pavie Macquin with its blackberry, dark cherry, fennel and mineral filled perfume was rich, round and full bodied. The wine needs at least another 5 years to develop and express all its character. 93 Pts
2000 Petrus is a wine I seldom taste due to its scarcity and high price. I admit, while some of the mature bottles I’ve experienced have been amazing, I’ve never had a current vintage that blew me away. Most recently, I was privileged to taste the 90 and sadly, even though it was not blind, I was not impressed from that supposedly legendary wine. It earned 95 pts.
That all changed with this bottle! Remember, I had already tasted numerous 2000 Bordeaux by the time this was served. So for a wine to grab me, call me by name and ask me to go home with it, it had to be special.
Oh My God! (If I wanted brevity, I could have left it there, as that truly said it all.) This was the real deal. The non-stop perfume explosion reminded me of what Hendrix sounded like during his performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” at Woodstock! This was thrilling. Chocolate, black raspberry, assorted fresh flowers, herbs, spices, truffles, earth, plums and black cherry could have been enjoyed from across the room. This powerful, concentrated, deep wine filled every nook and cranny of your taste receptors with endless waves of decadent, flawlessly ripe fruit. Purity, velvet, silk, balance and length are the hallmarks of this wine. If I never see it again, (Like Bogart and Bergman who will always have Paris) I will always remember tasting that amazing bottle! This could be the 2000 Bordeaux wine of the vintage! 100 Pts
2000 Le Pin is one of the few wines I missed at the tasting. But after Lafleur and Petrus, for some odd reason, I was perfectly fine.
2000 Quinault L’Enclos is not as fresh, rich, lush or interesting as it was a few years ago. I’d drink this enjoyable wine sooner than later. 87 Pts
2000 Rol Valentin seems close to full maturity. This soft, light, sleek, red and black fruit filled wine is easy to drink. Eric Prisette, the European Soccer star and former owner recently sold the property to the Robin family who are related to the previous owners of Lafleur. This is a property to watch. 90 Pts
2000 Tertre Roteboeuf opens up with crushed raspberry, plum, black cherry and licorice aomas. Sexy, soft, silky and intense, the wine fills your mouth with freshness and soft textures. 95 Pts