Row, row, row your boat
With autumn colours on the trees, Burgundy season is just around the corner. As I write in early November, we have visited around two-thirds of our producers in the region, with the remainder scheduled for the end of the month. We have saved some of the great names for last, so what follows is a first impression rather than the final word on the vintage.
I am hugely excited about the 2024s, which are elegant and fresh. The cooler season has made for a traditional style that will appeal to Burgundy lovers seeking aroma, verve and fresh drinkability. I can see ‘24 Pinot Noirs being enjoyed before the denser ‘23s. The whites deliver chiselled citrus fruit with an impressive acid backbone. The best examples will rival the 2014s.
For those puzzled by the title, Burgundy’s 2024 spring and summer were wet. This caused coulure (poor fruit set) and then mildew, which hit yields, particularly of Pinot Noir in the Côte de Nuits. Some in the mildew epicentre around Vosne-Romanée and Nuits-Saint-Georges lost 50-90% of their crop. Domaine de l’Arlot’s Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Clos des Forêts Saint-Georges yielded a mere 3hl/ha.
Domaine de l’Arlot
By contrast, the hardier Chardonnay crop saw near-normal volumes in places, albeit with notable exceptions in Chablis, due to frost and hail, and parts of Puligny-Montrachet. Domaine Leflaive has made around half the volume of the abundant 2023.
Although the challenges were even greater than in 2021, sustained spells of sunny, breezy weather in August and September kept botrytis at bay and brought ripeness within reach, aided by the lighter crop load. As Elsa Matrot at Domaine Matrot said, this ultimately saved the vintage. Comparisons with 2021, as the most recent ‘cool’ vintage, are inevitable, but the 2024s I have tasted have shown greater density and panache.
Jean Orsoni, at Domaine du Puy de l’Ours, spoke of September’s conditions resulting in unexpectedly high phenolic ripeness: “What we didn’t expect was having something very complete in terms of phenolic maturity.” (This despite losing 80% of the Pinot Noir crop and 40% overall).
Equally as important as frequent vineyard treatments was rigorous sorting at harvest time. Édouard Labet said they practised ‘positive’ sorting at Château de la Tour in 2024, whereby good grapes are set aside, rather than the usual ‘negative’ approach of discarding substandard berries.
Château de la Tour
At some domaines, traditional hand triaging is now enhanced by automated optical and density sorters. Christophe Perrot-Minot sorts whole clusters manually, whilst destemmed grapes pass through an optical sorter. What a difference the technology of today’s winemakers would have made to the wines of their parents. Vintages like 2024 are much the better for it.
Natural, or potential, alcohol at harvest tended to fall just short of 13% abv, bolstered by the lighter crop on the vines. A small amount of chaptalisation — adding sugar to the grape juice or fermenting must — was therefore widely practised.
Acidities were higher than in 2023, both tartaric and malic. Nadine Gublin at Domaine Jacques Prieur said they had 6g/L tartaric acidity at harvest, rather than the usual 5g/L. This, she said, “makes a difference”. Malic acid turns to creamier lactic acid during the malolactic fermentation, whilst tartaric acid precipitates during élevage on lees. The result is wines with fresh zip that will develop texture during ageing in barrel.
There was less whole-bunch fermentation in 2024, due to the effect of mildew on the stems. Nicolas Rossignol at Domaine Rossignol-Trapet destemmed everything for the first time since 2004 (is there some pattern to vintages ending in ‘4’…?). However, here also, there are exceptions: Domaine Georges Glantenay has marginally increased its use of whole clusters in 2024.
Our organic producers largely stuck with organic practices, out of pragmatism rather than dogma. Once the full extent of the mildew became apparent, it was too late. The chemical option holds real allure in such vintages: synthetic treatments circulate within the vine, while organic sprays are washed off by the next rain shower. One grower who will resist especially firmly is Pierre de Benoist of Domaine de Villaine, who introduced himself to a colleague as “very organic”.
As Paul Chéron at Domaine du Couvent philosophically put it, we have had “two generous vintages… working with Mother Nature also means accepting her difficult years.” Which, with thanks to Paul, leads me onto the market. Much as we feel for our friends in Burgundy, a short crop in the current market is perhaps not entirely unwelcome.
Domaine de Villaine
What customers will find hard to swallow, however, is price rises. As we saw in the 2021 vintage, using lower yields as justification for higher prices doesn’t wash. Even more importantly, the values of comparable previous vintages should inform new release prices. I say this with some awareness of the squeeze on margins for producers as well as for merchants. But bottles stuck in the supply chain are no use to anyone. They are made to be uncorked.
At the right prices, Burgundy 2024 will be a vintage to dive into. Low yields have ensured there will be stiff competition, in particular for the top reds from the Côte de Nuits. There are already plenty of wines to get excited about, and we can’t wait to taste the remainder. Look out for our first release, Domaine Leflaive, out next month.
GUY SEDDON
HEAD OF FINE WINE BUYING
NOVEMBER 2025
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