Burgundy 2000 - all is revealed

One by one, they're emerging: all the great wines with 2000 on their labels. There were no labels or bottles, of course, in 1000, and who knows if human beings will still walk the earth in 3000? If the wine's good, a case or two of 2000 has to be an emblematic purchase for the coming century.

Bordeaux, the Rhòne and Languedoc have all given us genuinely age-worthy 2000s; what about Burgundy? When it sings, after all, nothing can quite match the sinuous, perfumed charm of red burgundy, not the sinewy structure and hazelnut-cream richness of the whites.

It's mixed, I'm afraid. July 2000 was cold. Later, just as everyone was getting ready to pick in mid-September, a colossal storm dumped up to 50mm of rain on the central part of the region. In between, the weather had been hot and fine, and in any case the two extremities of the region (Chablis and the Maconnais) escaped the rain.

There are wines which will open up like hyacinths over the next two decades in a cellar, most of them white. The reds, alas, are often feebly constituted, though pretty; they will be ephemeral. Overall, 2000 in Burgundy is inferior to 1999, 1997 and 1996, though the best whites can be as good as those of 1999 and 1997. You may still want to stock up, though: 2001 looks a dismal vintage.

I've been tasting all last week on your behalf, but why not taste for yourself? John Armit still has a few tickets for his tasting tomorrow (Wednesday 16th January, 5.30 to 8pm at Dartmouth House, 37 Charles Street, W1; contact Joanna Haycock on 020 7908 0600): they cost £15 for one person or £25 for two.

Alternatively, book for Morris and Verdin's Grand Burgundy Tasting on 6 March (6.0 to 8pm at Painter's Hall, Little Trinity Lane, EC4; ring 020 7921 5300): tickets are also £15 per person.

Whites: great buys

Chablis and the Maconnais are the zones to scour for great value. Winemaking is more adventurous in the M?connais; too many Chablis producers turn out overclean, flavour-stripped, inert wines.

The best Chablis I tasted last week is the Premier Cru Montèe de Tonnerre, Billaud-Simon (Charles Taylor, 020 7928 8151, £135.13 per case), vivid with sap and oyster-shell freshness: 89/100. Even better is the same producer's Grand Cru Vaudèsir (£282): deeper, more multidimensioned, a splash of honey on the stone: 91/100. The wines of Dauvissat-Camus from Justerini and Brooks, untasted as I write, should be resonant (020 7484 6400).

From the Maconnais, the exotic, toothsome Macon Villages from the biodynamic Guillemot-Michel estate (Haynes Hanson and Clark, 020 7259 0103, £113.30), lush with an orchard full of ripe fruits, is tempting: 89/100. The other revelation of this tasting round has been the wines of the Bret brothers, sold as La Soufrandiëre; they have some of the best vineyards of Pouilly-Vinzelles, and are obviously accomplished winemakers.

The straight Pouilly-Vinzelles is a gorgeously chewy mouthful (Morris and Verdin £103.40, 88/100); but with the "Le Quart" version you are getting a wine whose ripeness, substance and concentration eclipse many Premiers Crus from Puligny this year (£141, 90/100).

And the Còte d'Or? Best basic Bourgogne Blanc is the fresh-flavoured yet succulent version from Marc Morey (Haynes Hanson and Clark, exact price to be confirmed but about £102), 88/100; while among "ordinary" village wines, seize the purity, fragrance and mineral depth of the Chassagne-Montrachet of Morey-Coffinet (Berry Bros, 020 7396 9600, £207.09), 89/100.

If you're hunting for something cellar-worthy from 2000, here are three. Michel Niellon's Chassagne Premier Cru Chenevottes is sinewy and greyhound-like (OW Loeb, 0207 928 7750, £332.40, 91/100), while Ramonet's Chassage Premier Cru Ruchottes is not dissimilar, quivering with cool fire (Loeb £480.45, 91/100). Finally the Clos du Cailleret from Domaine des Lambrays, tasted twice, is a brilliant wine: glycerous, bready, elegant and concentrated (Haynes Hanson and Clark about £485; Loeb £545.07), 92/100.