It is some time since I drank a 2000 Saumur-Champigny, so it was good last night to drink a bottle of Jean-Pierre Chevallier's 2000 Château de Villeneuve. Unlike in Bordeaux 2000 wasn't a particularly easy vintage in the Loire as the rain that would virtually continue without pause until March 2001 started in the Loire in mid-October before everyone had finished harvesting their Cabernet Franc.
From memory J-P decided to make just the domaine wine in 2000, so no Vieilles Vignes or Le Grand Clos. The 2000 is drinking well at the moment mid-weight with attractive mature flavours and soft tannins in the finish. I don't think it is going to get any better but it should continue to give pleasure for another three years or so.
