Burgundy - An Overview of Recent Vintages
We have, over the past couple of months, tasted a great deal of Burgundy. Not just in preparation for our Great Burgundy Offer and Journey through Burgundy event in early May, but also visiting our growers and tasting with them in the region. We have had some surprises and, as a result, we felt that it might be an opportune moment to give our feed-back on our findings. We plan to do a similar overview for Bordeaux in the next Vintage Update.
Some Guidelines
Wines bottled in halves will be more advanced than our drinking recommendations for their 75cl counterparts. Equally, magnums will be more backward. Documented tastings through the ages suggest that the evolution of wine in magnum, or other larger bottle formats, will be more moderated.
2005 Vintage
Now in bottle, the wines have closed up a little. Tastings prior to bottling consistently showed the great promise that we anticipated in the summer and autumn of 2006 during our initial assessments. The 2005 white burgundies will give great pleasure comparatively early. Regional and village wines will be drinking from this autumn and next spring, 1ers Crus from next year and the Grands Crus from 2010. There is definitely a tendency for white burgundy to be made in an earlier drinking style, as a result of a number of viticultural and vinification factors. We will endeavour to keep pace with this trend in the review of the drinking dates that we provide for wines in reserve, both excellars and in bond. The reds will need some time although the regional wines are already showing great charm; Nicolas Potel’s 2005 Hautes-Côtes-de-Nuits showed very well.
2004 Vintage
The whites have a very attractive, balanced but evident, acidity and this bodes well for their continued development and longevity. Many village wines however, and even some 1ers Crus are very attractive already. Recent tastings of Fontaine- Gagnard, Hubert Lamy, Jean-Marc Pillot and Jacqueson wines have proven delightful. They have years ahead of them but are hard to resist already. The reds are, in the main, quite nervy and restrained and will need time to show their full charms. It is not unusual for red burgundy to have an awkward stage and 2004 will be a vintage that demands patience.
2003 Vintage
An atypical year, this scalding vintage produced ripe, opulent whites and rich, fleshy reds. Generally a vintage to drink up and enjoy over the next couple of years. We recommend drinking regional and village whites and reds over the next couple of years, 1er Cru whites too and 1er Cru reds and Grand Cru whites and reds over the next five years. Essentially, the message is sooner rather than later, but refer to your Stock Certificates for a more detailed assessment of the individual vineyards and growers.
2002 Vintage
An extraordinary vintage producing great to excellent wines. The whites are very uniform with a lovely balance of fruit and acidity. Regional and villages whites are starting to drink now whilst the 1ers and Grands Cru need more time. At 1er Cru and above, the reds definitely need more time, but the regional and some Côte-de- Beaune village wines will give great pleasure now.
2001 Vintage
1er Cru level are just beginning to show their colours but recent tastings of the likes of Darviot-Perrin, Domaine Leflaive and Sauzet have demonstrated that there is no hurry to drink them. The reds have time on their side but we enjoyed Nicolas Potel’s 2001 Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru Roncières immensely – in fact it was probably the wine of the night – in late April, so if you have that wine in the cellar, enjoy it from now. It was a challenging year in the vineyard and the most assiduous and attentive growers made the best wines. Skins were thick in the reds and the acidities were superb so, in the top cellars, good wines were made. Patience is needed.
2000 Vintage
Interestingly, I would have said “nearly ready” and “giving great pleasure” for both whites and reds just six months ago whilst more recent tasting and drinking has suggested, drink up. Regional wines should be drunk soon, village wines over the next six months but 1ers and even Grands Crus over the next 12 to 18 months to really enjoy them is the message. Refer to your Stock Certificate for more precise dates for individual growers.
1999 Vintage
Wonderful acidities and ripeness of fruit. The whites are starting to drink well whilst the reds need more time. This is a vintage which is looking promising for a long drinking window at the 1er Cru and Grand Cru level.
1998 Vintage
A sleeper vintage for the reds, without a doubt. Early tastings showed these wines as nervy and acidic. The villages reds started to turn a corner from winter / spring 2006 and have continued to develop well since then. The whites were generally lacking in acidity and should be drunk, if you haven’t already. The consistent descriptive of recent times for the 1998 whites has been “honeyed”. Not always a negative, in taste terms, but not usually an indication of longevity.
1997 Vintage
Drink up! In general the 1997 vintage is on the wane but there are still surprises to be had. A 1997 Corton-Charlemagne from Olivier Leflaive proved to be delicious when tasted recently.
1996 Vintage
A very varied vintage. Some whites have reached maturity before the professionals would have anticipated, and other wines where the growers have counselled a further ten years cellarage for the wines to reach their optimum maturity. Acidities were high and longevity promised. This is a vintage which defies an overview and we must continue to report on a grower by grower basis on your Stock Certificates. If you have Côte Chalonnaise, regional or village wines in your cellar at home then our advice would be to taste your wines and you will probably find that they are drinking now.
1995 Vintage
These wines are starting to drink well. Whites at the regional and village level should be consumed. The great 1ers and Grands Crus are less of a worry and whilst showing well, will continue to drink well in the coming years. The 1995 reds show a lovely ripeness and richness and are delicious for drinking now. Similar to the whites, the 1ers and Grands Crus from the best growers will drink well over the next 12+ months but they are so sumptuous that it will take a strong will to resist them in their present state.
Burgundy is as confusing and variable as it is intriguing and extraordinary, so please treat this guide as an overview and refer to your Stock Certificates for more precise information about the individual growers in your collections or contact the Fine Wine team on 0845 450 1589 or email fine.wine@laywheeler.com for further information.