2002 wines at 20 years of age…

I’ve got a few 2002s lined-up for a look in the coming year and I’ll give the first of them a go this weekend - note to follow - but overall it was the first of several relatively lean years for buying for me. My preconception before we start is that 2002 will be much more mixed than 2001 was. I haven’t delved into my 2002 red Burgundies very much so far, but I’ll open a few this year to see where we’re up to and I’m expecting some good (lighter) wines. In other areas from which I buy it was a terrible year - Southern Rhone a flooded disaster and Northern Rhone not much better. Piedmont also had a terrible year for weather. I have nothing left from any of these.

Last year’s 2001 thread gathered loads of interesting notes from lots of different places - I’ll be surprised if there’s half as many notes on 2002s, but feel free to prove me wrong.
 
For me it's starting to be a considerably more satisfactory red burgundy vintage than its predecessor, which is not how I have felt in the past; mostly a question of 02 just beginning to be ready while all but the best 01s should be contemplated for drinking in the nearish future.
 
I suppose this doesn't really qualify given the timing, but on the 30th December we drank Clos du Marquis 2002. It was rather hard, austere and unfriendly. I think my only other experience of 2002 claret was Mouton Rothschild, courtesy of a generous friend about three years ago, and it was fabulous.

As a Burgundy sceptic I have actually enjoyed most of the 2002 red burgundies I've drunk and would say it's my favourite vintage of the early noughties (say, 2000 - 2004). There were some good white burgundies too - especially Chablis - but I have only four bottles left (a Michel grand cru Chablis and three Raveneau premiers crus). These are now the oldest white burgs in my cellar. There were some good chenins blancs from the Loire. I have a smattering of stuff from around the world and will try to remember to chip in here when I open any.
 
I had Poyferre 2002 on NYE, immediately after having had the 1995.

For me, it perfectly showcased how good claret should evolve - the 95 absolutely peaked and probably towards the end of its plateau - drink up in the next year or two. The 2002, underrated vintage, drank really well and is still, for me, on the upward trajectory. Lots of red fruit still and whilst unmistakably from the same chateau, really showed what patience can do. No hurry to drink now and will probably have another decade in it, at a push.
 
For me it's starting to be a considerably more satisfactory red burgundy vintage than its predecessor, which is not how I have felt in the past; mostly a question of 02 just beginning to be ready while all but the best 01s should be contemplated for drinking in the nearish future.
Tom, you may not be surprised to learn, I finished off my 2002 RB, last year. Whilst the fruit remained on show. :)
 
Great thread Andy - I love the 20 years on notes. And yes, I expect the pickings will be a little slimmer this year, but 2002s are good in Bordeaux and Burgundy and decent in the Mosel. In the Rhone they are all past their best - I wonder whether anyone still has any. Despite being a N. Rhone fanatic, I didn't buy a single bottle, even when Allemand's unified cuvee was discounted in about 2006 to £180 for 12 in bond. I think the vintage was poor in rioja too, but I could be wrong. Anyway, it will be fun to see what gets drunk.
 
I have actually enjoyed most of the 2002 red burgundies I've drunk and would say it's my favourite vintage of the early noughties (say, 2000 - 2004)
It's in most respects the best of them; having said which I recall some truly magical bottles from 00, 01 and 04 and I haven't yet found that rare Burgundy magic in 02.
 
In the Rhone they are all past their best - I wonder whether anyone still has any. Despite being a N. Rhone fanatic, I didn't buy a single bottle, even when Allemand's unified cuvee was discounted in about 2006 to £180 for 12 in bond.
There were some decent whites from both the N Rhone and the S Rhone, Richard. I'm now down to a single bottle of white Fonsalette - if we both make it to a WIMPS where this would be an appropriate bottle, I'll bring it.
 
In about 2009 I bought half a doz Michel et Stephane Ogier 2002 Cote Rotie after Zubair at Raeburn sold me a single bottle. At age 7 it was a delicious mature n. Rhone, very savoury, quite an exuberant perfumed nose. It drank well for just 3 or 4 years and by 2014 was crumbling fast. It’s the most memorable occasion I have encountered of accelerated ageing in a poor vintage - it was the usual Cote Rotie ageing curve, just compressed into 12 years rather than 20-30.
 
I've just checked and 2002 looks to have been the worst vintage in rioja in 25 years. Amusingly, the Consejo Regulador calls it 'good' - not so much points as adjectival inflation in this case. I wonder what piss-poor is in Spanish...
i had a couple of 2002 Tondonia reserva tinto which were really not very good at all. The ability to blend-in up to 20% (?) from other vintages wasn’t enough to save these. However, one of the bottles on the pile for this year is my last 2002 CVNE Pagos de Vina Real so I’ll be able to offer a data point in due course - previous bottle in 2017 was fine in the sense it wasn’t remotely aged or mature.
 
i had a couple of 2002 Tondonia reserva tinto which were really not very good at all. The ability to blend-in up to 20% (?) from other vintages wasn’t enough to save these. However, one of the bottles on the pile for this year is my last 2002 CVNE Pagos de Vina Real so I’ll be able to offer a data point in due course - previous bottle in 2017 was fine in the sense it wasn’t remotely aged or mature.
I put an order in with a spanish supplier for 2001 and they sent 2002. They agreed to get it picked up, but their courier claimed they'd been twice and we weren't in - which might have been true (pre covid!). In the end I gave up!
 
Last edited:
i had a couple of 2002 Tondonia reserva tinto which were really not very good at all. The ability to blend-in up to 20% (?) from other vintages wasn’t enough to save these. However, one of the bottles on the pile for this year is my last 2002 CVNE Pagos de Vina Real so I’ll be able to offer a data point in due course - previous bottle in 2017 was fine in the sense it wasn’t remotely aged or mature.
I had just the two bottles of Tondonia 2002 and both were clumsy, monolithic, shortish, and strangely a bit inky - very unlike a normal Tondonias in texture and style. The 2003 on the other hand, is way better than I expected, but that's a story for next year.
 
Top