2001 wines at 20 years of age...

From this weekend:

Margaux 2001 superb classic nose, albeit pinched compared to the 2000. Brett. Rich texture, strong acidity, fruit opulence. Soft and giving. Lots of easy, accessible fun. Ready but will plateau for a long time. 95

Lafite 2001 restrained, cool, classy Lafite; even a hint of green. But none the worse for that. Still young - much younger than the Margaux. Just a bit dry as goes the vintage. Very tight and checked at present. Hard to score but no doubt will be great. 94

Mouton 2001 pretty fabulous and classic Mouton nose. Only medium bodied at this stage. Pretty good cedary stuff though not hitting the heights. A good example of Pauillac but not a great Mouton. Good now, don’t see much greater upside. 93
 
Plenty of 2001 Rioja's to sample in the coming months. Plus a good smattering of Pomerols. Like Ian I prefer 01 to 00 on the right bank. There is also some DDC blanc somewhere but its probably poxed. Probably also a good time to get some Prum Auslese 01 half bottles out of bond! I think I have some Lafarge somewhere as well, and a little Camuzet Boudots. Must try some things I keep forgetting it is 2021.

ps Nick great to see you posting! Great wines. Much jealous. When did you join the board?
 
We had Ogier Cote Rotie 2001 last night. It was mildly disappointing. Nothing much wrong with it, it just wasn’t very exciting or interesting. It was fully resolved and, in the Ogier way, it still had some bright, primary fruit. The acidity was quite high, maybe a little too high. It was rather simple, lacking complexity and tertiary development.
 
We had Ogier Cote Rotie 2001 last night. It was mildly disappointing. Nothing much wrong with it, it just wasn’t very exciting or interesting. It was fully resolved and, in the Ogier way, it still had some bright, primary fruit. The acidity was quite high, maybe a little too high. It was rather simple, lacking complexity and tertiary development.
I thought the 01's were better 10 years ago when they performed as expected. I've opened a few in the last year or so and they've all been underwhelming if not slightly faulty. Not sure why really.
 
We had Ogier Cote Rotie 2001 last night. It was mildly disappointing. Nothing much wrong with it, it just wasn’t very exciting or interesting. It was fully resolved and, in the Ogier way, it still had some bright, primary fruit. The acidity was quite high, maybe a little too high. It was rather simple, lacking complexity and tertiary development.
Same problem Gilles Barges Cote-Rotie Cuvee Duplessy...add to the lost short on the finish...but I may have a duff batch. I tried to return them they were so poor.

Edit: Didn’t see Nigel’s post, and to second his observation.
 
A few 2001s in recent weeks:

Musar rouge (a recent Waitrose purchase), on Christmas Day, was very good. My first '01 (I think), and surprisingly light-bodied (to me anyway) compared to the vintages I'm more familiar with, like '03 and '04.

Brookland Valley (Margaret River), Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. A wine we bought the day after our wedding at the estate in '08, it gave more sentimental than drinking pleasure. Tannins completely resolved leaving lots of jammy black fruit cut by a faint green streak.

Parker Coonawarra Estate, Terra Rossa 'First Growth', lovely - at or perhaps slightly past its peak, but giving the impression than any decline will be slow and graceful. Absolutely pristine cork.
 
2001 d'Arenberg Coppermine Road is still hanging on for the most part, although I did have a bottle or two that gave the impression they were starting to fade. And this despite the fact that the 2001s have some of the crumbliest corks I've ever come across.
 
Same problem Gilles Barges Cote-Rotie Cuvee Duplessy...add to the lost short on the finish...but I may have a duff batch. I tried to return them they were so poor.

Edit: Didn’t see Nigel’s post, and to second his observation.
I've had good success with Northern Rhônes from the vintage, in the past year greatly enjoying bottles from Burgaud, Verset, and Clape.
 
I tend to think of it as one of the very best vintages in the Northern Rhône. Probably not to everyone’s taste, but with a cool mineral spine and just ripened fruit, it’s right up my street. They’ve taken their sweet time to come around though.

For those with similar tastes to mine 2013 will also likely be exceptional in this region. If it’s sweetly sun kissed fruit you want, then you may need to look to other vintages....

Sadly, Ogier is just Ogier.
 
We had Ogier Cote Rotie 2001 last night. It was mildly disappointing. Nothing much wrong with it, it just wasn’t very exciting or interesting. It was fully resolved and, in the Ogier way, it still had some bright, primary fruit. The acidity was quite high, maybe a little too high. It was rather simple, lacking complexity and tertiary development.

I have one bottle left of 2001 Ogier Cote Rotie, and it’s not earmarked for drinking this year. The last one opened, in Feb 2020, was lovely and I decided to leave the last bottle a few more years. My note says...Damson purple, still opaque at the core and just the beginnings of orange-toned colour change at the edge. Nose glorious right from opening - there are evident evolved farmyardy notes emerging, but not excessive, balanced by abundant floral lily top notes - all very appealing. Palate nicely mature with earthy bretty sous bois, plenty of bright red fruit, velvet textured tannins and plenty of acidity. Delicious. Last bottle in 2 or 3 years.

It sounds like my bottle might have had a little more to it than Colin’s, but whatever it does sound like these are heading toward, if not at, full maturity.
 
Plenty of 2001 Rioja's to sample in the coming months. Plus a good smattering of Pomerols. Like Ian I prefer 01 to 00 on the right bank. There is also some DDC blanc somewhere but its probably poxed. Probably also a good time to get some Prum Auslese 01 half bottles out of bond! I think I have some Lafarge somewhere as well, and a little Camuzet Boudots. Must try some things I keep forgetting it is 2021.

ps Nick great to see you posting! Great wines. Much jealous. When did you join the board?

Hi Gareth! Long time lurker ;)

Found a few more notes on 2001s, albeit tasted in October last year. Apologies for the rushed notes

DRC RSV 2001 - brilliant wine, fantastic, open nose, pure Vosne. Super seductive and elegant. Bright and not heavy. Great time to drink. 95

DRC Richebourg 2001 - very true to type! Much darker, wilder even gamey nose. More structure and power on the palate than RSV. But so totally compelling. Can wait on this one another five years. 96

Dom Leroy Vosne Genaivrieres 2001 - utterly brilliant for village wine. Pure Leroy impactful nose. Then so many nuances. Really wonderful wine today. 95
 
I knew had quite a few wines from the 2001 vintage but a count in my less than perfect cellar list tells me that I have about 40 different 2001 wines, everything from the sublime - like Ascheri Barolo Sarono 'Coste et Bricco', Brokenwood Rayner Shiraz, and Musar - to the ridiculous - like Cono Sur Pinot Noir, Tsantsali 'Metoxi' and Fateasca Negra from Bulgaria. Needless to say I will not be getting through all of them this year.
 
2001 d'Arenberg Coppermine Road is still hanging on for the most part, although I did have a bottle or two that gave the impression they were starting to fade. And this despite the fact that the 2001s have some of the crumbliest corks I've ever come across.
Glad it's hanging on. The last time I had it was about four years ago, from mag, and it was distinctly autumnal then.
 
I'm through mine now - just in time I reckon. I wouldn't want to hold onto them for much longer. I'm down to two bottles of 2002 now, which I also plan to get through sooner rather than later.
 
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