WINE 2002 | THE 2002 FRENCH WINE GUIDE

Year, Vintage 2002

Is 2002 a vintage close to your heart? Is it a year of birth, a year of marriage or any other symbol that makes you want to offer or drink a wine from this year? Let us help you decipher this vintage and find the right bottle to suit your needs.

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Vintage 2002 in BORDEAUX

A year full of surprises and, above all, fears. Let's just say that the 2002 vintage gave Bordeaux winegrowers quite a lot to worry about, due to the very difficult weather conditions for the vines. The vintage got off to a bad start with a complicated, cold month of May, which delayed flowering. The first complication began. The cold snap had a disastrous impact on the grapes, leading to run-off. And whether you're a far-sighted or a meticulous winegrower, you have no choice but to put up with these climatic vagaries. The month of July held out the promise of some good news, as it was relatively warm, without too much precipitation, but August took away all hope of a big harvest. The rain and lack of sunshine prevented the grapes from developing properly and reaching good ripeness. Worse still, the run-off at the beginning of the cycle brought rot to the vines, causing enormous damage in the vineyard. But then Mother Nature performed a miracle! The sun shone brightly in September. Ripening of the grapes was now complete. The rot, for its part, was halted, but left a few after-effects. If we take a closer look at the different regions of Bordeaux, the quality of the vintage is quite different. The Cabernets, which are usually later-ripening grapes than the Merlot, got the better of them. The Left Bank wines with a good proportion of Cabernet have produced some very fine wines. They are powerful, rich and complex. The Château Margaux 2002 is one of the vintage's great successes, rated a good 93/100 by Parkeur, followed in the same appellation by Château Brane Cantenac. Both are silky wines, with aromas of wild berries.

For lovers of stronger wines, we recommend the Château Haut-Batailley which offers good structure and a full-bodied wine. On the other side of the river, on the right bank of the Dordogne, the Merlot grapes are a little less successful. Their need for sunshine, relatively early in the ripening phase, was certainly lacking. Only the best Pomerols and Saint-Emilions managed to produce an interesting wine, such as Château La Conseillante which can still be enjoyed today with very supple tannins and a very velvety finish. 

For white wines, on the other hand, this Indian summer will be salutary, even beneficial.

The Sauvignons and Semillions reached phenolic ripeness late, and at the same time built up good acidity to give the much sought-after balance to the whites. On the other hand, the sweet white wines lacked the sunshine needed to produce wines with sufficient sweetness and, above all, intensity.

 

Vintage 2002 in BOURGOGNE

This 2002 vintage will have put everyone in agreement, with a few exceptions, as always.

However, nothing good was in the offing when, as in Bordeaux, a cold snap hit the vineyards in May. The vine cycle was also delayed, with its share of run-off. And unfortunately, the whole vineyard was hit. I can assure you right now that the rest of the story won't repeat itself as it did in Bordeaux. Phew! The months of July and August were sunny, very hot and very dry. Ideal for breaking the development of rot and helping the vines reach maturity. The Burgundians are lucky, as Pinot Noir ripens faster than other grape varieties such as Syrah. We say almost for everyone, because unlike northern Burgundy, the Mâconnais and Beaujolais regions were not so lucky. Terrible rains and thunderstorms forced winegrowers to harvest very early, resulting in under-ripe grapes. As a result, the wines produced were light and lacked substance. For the rest of the vineyard, however, everything went perfectly. So well, in fact, that the 2002 vintage was compared to that of 2003, with even greater finesse. One region is even considered exceptional: the Yonne, and more specifically the Chablis appellation.

In Chablis, the Premiers Crus and Grands Crus are fantastic. Very deep, very full, with remarkable aromatic complexity. The Côtes de Nuits reds are also perfect. Although at first some skeptics feared a few notes of rot, following the run-off at the beginning of the cycle, it turns out that these quickly faded, giving way to typical Pinot Noir notes. Woody fruit, mineral notes.

 

Vintage 2002 in VALLEE DU RHÔNE

It's going to be difficult to go into detail about the vintage, so catastrophic has it been for the region.

In both the northern and southern parts of the region, rainfall was very heavy, even setting records and causing flooding in some appellations. So don't count on 2002 being a good year for tasting great Rhône wines. Only those estates that have taken the gamble of carrying out a very drastic sorting and selecting only grapes that have not been attacked by rot and have ripened sufficiently will be able to offer "correct" wines, but only very small quantities. The small ray of sunshine will eventually benefit the Hermitage appellation, which will produce some interesting wines, richer than average, and above all complex, full-bodied white wines. Jean Louis Chave, a true icon of the appellation, even scored 94/100 for his Hermitage 2002.

 

Vintage 2002 in the rest of France

If there's one region to remember about the 2002 vintage, it's the Champagne region, which will benefit from perfect weather conditions. Both Chardonnay and Pinot will be very ripe and healthy, producing complex, fine Champagnes. At the same time, Champagne and Chablis are not that far apart. As far as Loire wines are concerned, it's worth noting the high quality of the whites, which will have made up for their early-season lag to present wines of great purity and finesse. As for the reds, they vary widely from region to region.

 

The best wine of 2002 according to Parker

• Champagne Cristal Rosé 2002 - Louis Roederer

Parker's rating: 100/100
Custody: 2018 - 2040
Cristal Rosé 2002 was always suspected of becoming a legend. Now, nine years later, the onion-colored wine has entered the Olympus of the best champagnes. Clear, ripe and vinous on the nose, intense and complex yet very delicate, this is a lush, succulent, perfectly round and intense 2002 that balances its generosity and texture with great elegance and bewitching balance. This homogeneous, charming, seductive and voluptuous character is combined with great purity and harmony, particularly on the finish, which is not only round and caressing but also fresh, piquant and stimulating. What more can you expect from a rosé champagne? Even if you served me the wine in a black glass, it would still be a magnificent, superb wine. Yes, it's wine rather than anything else, and its sparkling vinosity makes me desperate for more. If I could, I'd marry the Cristal Rosé 2002 straight away. This cuvée reflects a great continental vintage and the stunning terroirs of Aÿ (Pinot Noir: 60%), Avize and Le Mesnil (Chardonnay: 40%). The bottle I tasted at Roederer in Reims in May 2018 was disgorged in 2011, so, like the 2008, after eight years on the second lees."

Stephan Reinhardt in 2018

 

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