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BEAULIEU VINEYARD

2000 VINTAGE REPORT

North Coast

(Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino)

Rutherford, February 2, 2001 - Vintage 2000 will go down in history as not only the first vintage of the new Millennium, but also as one of the most challenging vintages on record. If this vintage was a sign from Mother Nature, then the 21^st Century could prove to be a vexing one for winemakers in the North Coast! Now that the dust has settled, the malolactic fermentations are finished, and the wines barreled down, let’s take a more considered look at this past harvest. While Beaulieu Vineyard has the strongest presence in Rutherford and Carneros, it sources fruit from all over the Napa Valley, as well as many vineyards in Sonoma as well as Mendocino. This mosaic of vineyards allows our winemakers to gain a strong overall sense of the vintage throughout the North Coast on an annual basis.

With the exception of four heat spikes, including a mid-June period with 110º F-plus temperatures, the growing season was characterized by cooler temperatures than usual and unseasonal humidity. Rain during late August, mid-September and October further provoked European-style conditions and difficulties with picking late-ripening fruit in particular, such as Cabernet.

On the positive side, however, earlier ripening grapes like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, as well as Sauvignon Blanc, may well turn out to be exceptional. The vines and the fruit looked terrific this year until mid-October. July was overall moderately warm and dry. Harvest got off to an early start in the North Coast, with Sauvignon Blanc arriving at BVaround mid-August. It then slowed to a crawl for a few weeks with unseasonably cool weather and some light rain during the week of August 28th. The week of September 11th was a near miss from a potential disaster; a tropical storm moved offshore before its torrential rains could have an affect.

According to Elizabeth Florence, BV’s Vineyard Operations Manager, the Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc that were harvested during this period reached “full maturity and were dynamite”. She adds that “ Viognier was beautiful and Pinot Gris awesome.” We have also been harvesting based on flavor ripeness and physiological characteristics of the vine to determine harvest times, instead of just using hard numbers such as Brix, TA and pH. This practice has worked well, allowing us to pick our grapes at the optimum ripeness for the highest wine quality, according to Florence.

In her view, the extreme heat spell in June played no small part in shocking the sytem of many vines on the North Coast in a way that they never recovered from. Yet the strange, cool weather of late August and much of September, conversely, also played games with some varieties like Zinfandel. “It was very weird—we picked some Zinfandel in Napa Valley before Pinot Noir! It had high sugars, but there wasn’t the physiological maturity we wanted. It just didn’t get the hang-time it needed, even with a light crop. Yet we had some excellent Zinfandel from Sonoma, so overall we are very happy with the Zin this year.”

The last week of September also saw record-breaking warmth, challenging efforts to keep the sugars from soaring too high too fast. In some vineyards, we commenced "evaporative cooling techniques" a fancy name for overhead sprinkling at 100 degree plus temperatures. It worked successfully to maintain the integrity of the vines and prevent unnecessary dehydration of the fruit. Rain and cool temperatures plagued the latter part of October, distinctly compromising many vineyards planted to late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon. In the end, it was a vintage that tested the abilities and patience of grower and winemaker alike, with conditions more like those usually found in Northern European vineyards.

According to BV Winemaker Bob Masyczek, “Generally, sugars increased at a slow rate or stayed level for most of early September. We saw only the one brutal heat spell in late September, and that didn’t do much to help ripening. The benefit was that the new Dijon clones of Chardonnay in Carneros had long hang time. Late ripening varieties, such as Syrah from Carneros and Charbono from Calistoga, came in very late. Pinot Noir's yield is average but the quality is stupendous. The fruit hung on beautifully as we picked at perfection. In most years there are heat spells that expedite the ripening of Pinot Noir, usually the second varietal (after Sauvignon Blanc) to come in. We didn’t get any of those heat spells until late September. We actually picked some Zinfandel before the Pinot came in! The progression of varieties coming ripe this year wasn’t “normal”. Merlot came in ahead of Chardonnay.”

Overall the quality was outstanding. This is especially true with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Crop levels were high, but not like 1997. Acids were “average”. Florence adds that “the Syrah in Carneros carried a large crop, and this contributed to the later ripening at a lower level of maturity. On the other hand, our Syrah from Calistoga and Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma is beautiful.” Yields tended to be average to above average, except for Zinfandel, which was less than normal due to a high proportion of older vines with small clusters and berries. Sauvignon Blanc was very exciting this year because we have so many new vineyards with intense varietal character. (“Buy-up lots of the 2000 Sauvignon Blanc, it's going to be dynamite,” says Masyczek!).

According to our North Coast Grape Grower Representative John Azevedo, “the quality of fruit in the field was very good through about the middle of October and then quality was affected by poor weather. Early harvested varieties show exceptional quality. Chardonnay crops were heavy, but quality was still very good, though Russian River Chardonnay experienced a tough year and never achieved very high sugars. But flavors were still good, however; the wines show more aromatic delicacy than usual. Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Zin and Sangiovese (from Dry Creek Valley) are all awesome this year due to ripening before any bad weather

BV Winemaker Michael Eddy was sanguine about this year’s harvest with regard to Merlot and Cabernet: “It was a challenging harvest and I hope this is the last time I have to think about it. I think, if I could, that I might trade November and December’s weather for October’s!” He noted that the Merlot from Rutherford and north was the earlier-picked and finest in quality. “Most of this came in before the weather really cooled off. The southern Napa Valley Merlot was mostly much later and shows more herbal character, though not vegetal. I would call Merlot quality good and having a bit of cool vintage character, with medium body and reasonable structure. The best Merlot, however, from BV1 and BV2 in Rutherford, is certainly outstanding.”

As for Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, vintage 2000 will probably be considered an average year. As Elizabeth Florence notes, “ The heat wave in June really zapped them (the Cabernet vines), and then the cool temperatures towards the end of the season followed by rain exacerbated the situation. While the leaves were still on the vine, the grapes just were not maturing, as the vines began to shut down without accumulating more sugar.” The cool weather through most of October, combined with rain, did not allow for ideal ripening. Some rot was the inevitable result, as it was for some vineyards of Chardonnay in the Russian River Valley a few weeks prior for similar reasons. Rot in Cabernet is a rare situation. That said, there will be a certain “Bordeaux” style to the wines, since the alcohol levels will be lower on average.

Eddy elaborates: “On average, sugar levels for Cabernet were low. At BV 2 for example, we picked one block of Clone 6 in two passes, two weeks apart. The extra two weeks did not profoundly affect the sugar level and indeed, the earlier pick is better quality. The rain and mold threats due to weather put pressure on us to pick sooner than ideal. The best of the Cabernet is very good, but certainly not big or chunky. Shall we say ‘subtle’, but not ‘intense or massive’?” One problem created by the weather is that pH’s were on the high side because of hang time in cool weather that allowed for potassium accumulation. And this was combined with high acidity, giving some wines a soft texture with some herbal flavor.

“ Napa Gamay (Validiguie), Charbono and some Cabernet therefore didn’t reach the levels of maturity that we would have preferred. Yet most of the Cabernet from our historic vineyards in Rutherford did ripen in advance of the rains, so BV will still produce some fine wines given what was picked earlier.”

Summing up the Millennial harvest, Vice President and Director of Winemaking Joel Aiken said, “…Considering the unusual growing season and erratic weather during harvest, I am very pleased with our 2000 Vintage wines. Everything out of Carneros looks fantastic. Our early to mid-season reds are excellent with great color and body. Cabernet is a mixed bag, with some exceptional wines with good color and weight and others with slightly lighter body. We will make some very good blends out of these wines. These will be approachable earlier on than in many other recent vintages characterized by firm tannin and structure.”

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