burgundy 2024 | Pinot Purity, Composed Chardonnay
First things first. Sit up, because 2024 has produced some wonderful wines throughout Burgundy. We return to a style of wines representing a previous era: lower alcohol, graceful delicate reds, vivacious whites, all with drive, vigour and energy. Just don’t look for power in this vintage. Moreover, these glorious wines are the epitome of appellational identity: exactly what made Burgundy famous all those centuries ago!
The quality of wines we tasted over a three-week period (65 domaines and over 1,000 wines) has blown us away, exceeding all our expectations and even taking the growers by surprise! Why? It is hard to explain, for the weather gods in their wisdom threw almost everything at the vineyards of Burgundy. They were almost saying: “so you think you are the best, prove it!” Well, my goodness they have. The vignerons faced the challenges head on and, as Jean-Nicolas Méo of Méo-Camuzet said, “the stresses were immense but the reward even better!”
2024 BURGUNDY IN A NUTSHELL
Red Burgundy | 2024 was the smallest crop for three generations. The most impacted vineyards were in the Côte de Nuits and most unusually, it was the famed Grands Crus and Premiers Crus in the villages of Vosne Romanée, Gevrey Chambertin and the like which have produced the least wine. Tasting at Domaine Grivot we counted just seven casks of Clos Vougeot in comparison to forty-five last year! However, what has been produced is exhilarating and stylish.
This is Pinot Noir at its most refined. Forget the dark black fruits of an année solaire, these wines are all about red fruit flavours, delicacy and purity. The best have a svelte, powdery tannic profile and, thanks to a warm heat spike just prior to harvest, are fully ripe and mature. Whilst it would be wrong to put them in the same league qualitatively, their profile is very much in the mould of the 2010 vintage. We love them!
White Burgundy | If we think the Pinot growers in the Côte d’Or had it bad, spare a thought for the Chablisiens. This is their smallest harvest by a long way. Frost and hail, in particular, meant yield losses between 30% at best and 90% at worst, most notably in the prized Grands and Premiers Crus on the right bank of the Serein. Didier Séguier at Domaine William Fèvre said mournfully: “Chablis’s smallest harvest in 80 years!”
However, and there is a however, forgetting the yields, the white wines from Chablis, through the Côte de Beaune and into the Côte Chalonnaise are sensational. 2024 has the makings of being one of the very great white vintages of recent times. In our view they are a mix of 2017 and 2014. They have the brilliance and energy of 2014, and arguably even more charm. And, whilst not necessarily as powerful as 2017, the best 2024s have hints of its breadth and beautifully refined florality. This really is a white vintage to seek out, and early doors, as availability will be sparse.
THE 2024 GROWING SEASON
- A mild, wet winter.
- A cold mid-April, with frosts impacting some earlier budding vineyards, particularly those vines well in advance following the early spring warmth.
- Rising temperatures in May were followed by a cooler flowering period, causing some disrupted flowering and further yield loss.
- A mild summer, but there was no escaping the rainfall throughout the growing season, with its attendant challenges, particularly for biodynamic and organic growers. Vineyard vigilance was paramount, but even so, the impact and additional yield loss were inevitable.
- Sunshine and warm weather from mid-August through to the September harvest were the vintage’s saviour. The miniscule crop ripened perfectly, was picked fast and efficiently, and vinified with care.
2024 PRICING & RELEASES
Every domaine we visited is extremely aware of and sensitive to current market conditions. Barring the odd exception, the temptation to compensate for small yields by increasing prices is not an option this year. A weak sterling is sadly playing against us, so price reductions are unlikely. Our aim however is to avoid increases and maintain prices at the same level as the 2023 vintage.
With such small yields, some additional wines will be on allocation and some cuvées will be packaged in three-bottle cases to try and share around as fairly as possible. In addition, don’t be surprised to see some growers offering a single blended Premier Cru cuvée rather than the traditional individual wines. With so little fruit, it is better to produce two casks of a combination of three vineyards than half casks of next to no wine.
The View From The Vineyard
"The small crop saved the quality. We would never have reached the highs that we did if it had been a high yielding vintage." Thibaud Clerget, Pommard
"This is a classical vintage. These whites, with their brilliance of fruit, will age to show great complexity." Jacques Carillon, Puligny Montrachet
"Maybe the vines were just a little tired after the excessive yields in 2022 and 2023…and needed to repose! " Robin Rapet, Pernand Vergelesses
"They remind me of the 2010 vintage; we underestimated them when the bunches arrived at the winery and look how they have turned out." Cyril Audoin, Marsannay
"I loved the challenge of 2024; if you did the work, there was the opportunity to be rewarded." Mathilde Grivot, Vosne Romanée
"When you taste the wines, you forget all the difficulties of the year; they make me smile!" Geraldine Godot, Nuits St Georges
The 2024 En Primeur Campaign
Our 2024 campaign will start with pre-Christmas releases of the wines of Louis Jadot; our much loved but hard-hit Chablis producers: Pommier, Pinson, Billaud-Simon, Droin and Fèvre; and one or two other favourite white domaines from the Côte de Beaune. The main campaign will launch in January as usual.