Was there hail in the Iles de Vergelesses in 2001?

Yule Kim

Yule Kim
I know hail fell in Volnay in 2001, but I was wondering if the same was true of the Iles de Vergelesses. I bought some 2001 Chandon de Briailles IdV for a rather inexpensive price and I was wondering if something happened to the vineyard that year. Checked Cellartracker and people haven't been thrilled, but I was thinking maybe that was because it still needs time. Or hail. Or something else.
 
On a quick look around the internet, it would appear not:

Burghound (Issue 11) wrote "Meursault and parts of Puligny were plagued by hail damage and while Chassagne largely escaped this particular ravage and did indeed do well, even the best wines from Chassagne lack the same purity of expression as do the finest wines of Aloxe and in particular Pernand."

Tuck and Pedley wrote "July was far from perfect but warmed up towards the end and storms at the beginning of August brought severe hail damage south of Beaune. Growers in Volnay lost up to 60% of their crop during the storm on the 2nd and losses in Pommard ran at 20%."

Of course, something may have happened to CdB's property that did not happen in Vergelesses overall.
 
Had the wine last week. Superb, in need of a decade in the cellar.
Although I'd say Corton blind.
 
I was in Beaune on that evening. I remember the thunder and lightning off in the direction of Volnay and Pommard but not towards Pernand or Aloxe. I saw no hail in Beaune.
 
originally posted by Ned Hoey:
I was in Beaune on that evening. I remember the thunder and lightning off in the direction of Volnay and Pommard but not towards Pernand or Aloxe. I saw no hail in Beaune.

How is that for an answer to the question!

Awesome.
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
originally posted by Ned Hoey:
I was in Beaune on that evening. I remember the thunder and lightning off in the direction of Volnay and Pommard but not towards Pernand or Aloxe. I saw no hail in Beaune.

How is that for an answer to the question!

Awesome.

Very cool indeed.
 
Thank you everyone for the information. It is very reassuring and I'll be sure to let them slumber. I kind of wish I bought some more now.

And yes, Ned's eyewitness account is very cool and awesome indeed.
 
Inconsistency in recently-opened 01 CdB IdV has already been a subject of discussion here, I think. Though it could just be different posters reacting to the wine's youth in different ways.
 
A lot of people think that like bordeaux, 2000 vintage is better than 2001.
In fact in burgundy 2001 is greater than 2000.
Acidity disappeared, and it's now a classic vintage.

I mean that you can tast this bottle now or wait few years.

François
 
Finally received my 01 CdB Ile and opened one last night. With 30 minutes' decant, it showed a very nice strawberry nose, tension, good acidity, decent tannic structure, yet-inhibited fruit. Pale. A sound bottle for the elegance and finesse crowd. No doubt will develop further for some time, but charming now; drink or hold, imho. Being red Burgundy, pretty great value at $30.
 
$30 is a good price. I think I paid at least $10 more for a few bottles over this past year. I might have liked them more at closer to $30.
 
It's kind of odd how when you go up and down the highway in Burgundy, the Corton area feels closer to the Cote de Nuits than to the heart of the Cote de Beaune (mentally, I always think of the geography as north of Beaune vs. south of Beaune as opposed to Cote de Beaune vs. Cote de Nuits). Of course the two Cotes are still on their own different geological formations, but in terms of weather it makes sense that anything localized to the Volnay area isn't going to touch the Corton area.
 
When I was there, it seemed like three parts: Nuits-St-Georges and north, Beaune and its environs, and the land between them (places like Corgoloin and Premaux-Prissey).
 
I had the 2001 Ille des Vergelesses yesterday. The bottle had been opened a day and had just arrived from California about a week before. The wine had a beautiful nose. The palate was a bit tougher, somewhat chewy and austere, but there is a lot to this wine and I think all it needs is time. For time, think Corton.

The price we paid was $30 per bottle.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Finally received my 01 CdB Ile and opened one last night. With 30 minutes' decant, it showed a very nice strawberry nose, tension, good acidity, decent tannic structure, yet-inhibited fruit. Pale. A sound bottle for the elegance and finesse crowd. No doubt will develop further for some time, but charming now; drink or hold, imho. Being red Burgundy, pretty great value at $30.

Ian,

Were you part of the pallet delivery from the west coast?
 
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