All the red grape varieties performed well. Merlot produced wines high in alcohol, Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon have very ripe tannins and intense blackcurrant aromas and even Petit Verdot ripened successfully.
The wines are therefore consistently good throughout the Bordeaux area with no particular region standing out. In addition, although the strict selection practised at the top Chateaux has only enhanced quality, many estates found that in 2000 the overall quality was so high that it was difficult to find vats not worthy of
the Grand Vin. This enabled many Petit Chateaux and Cru Bourgeois to produce good quantities of excellent wines at sensible prices.
To summarise, in St Emilion and Pomerol the wines rival the best of 1995 and 1998 with the same ripe lush flavours and very ripe tannins. In the Medoc and Graves the wines are the best since 1990, complimenting the succulent texture. Many Chateaux have progressed tremendously in the past ten years, investing in new equipment and a higher percentage of new oak barrels, producing their best ever wines.
Overall it’s a vintage of fine quality that will provide great drinking at all levels over the next twenty years.
