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Burgundy Vintage Guides

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Red Burgundy Guides: 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 |
White Burgundy Guides: 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 |

Red Burgundy

With very few exceptions, from the top to the bottom of Burgundy there was very little juice in 2003. A fateful sequence of frost, then hail, then sunburn conspired to demolish yields. Production quantities were often halved with even lower yields not uncommon, the shortfall affecting Pinot Noir and Chardonnay about equally, with the Côte de Beaune penalised even more than the Côte de Nuits. But 2003 was not a rerun of the fiercely tannic, earlier 'heatwave' year of 1976. 2003 dictated no... read more

The real story in 2002 focused not on individual exploits but rather on the extraordinary consistency of performance throughout appellations and regions. Great red wines were made at all points from Irancy down to Givry. Only the Beaujolais missed out, picking too early to get any benefit from the mid-September weather turnaround. A regular, cold winter and mild spring, an exceptionally hot June, posting 36 degree C temperatures and 55 hours more sunshine than normal, ensured rapid flowerng.... read more

Much like 1991, this red Burgundy vintage was initially overlooked by commentators and consumers despite producing wines with purity, grip and high terroir definition. Blame the dull September weather, the critical razzmatazz surrounding 1999 and 2002, or simply the fact that the world's shocked gaze was riveted elsewhere on 9/11. The fact remains that 2001s, with their intense aromatics, concentrated fruit and lack of harshness are quintessential red Burgundy.
A cool, wet spring and slow... read more

White wines stole the show in 2000 in Burgundy but there is plenty to like about the reds, too. Deeply-coloured and aromatic, possessed of good natural sugar ripeness but low acidity, their forward-drinking style makes them the right choice today, whilst waiting for the longer-term 1996 or 1999. The chaotic 2000 growing season, marked by stormy weather and wild temperature swings, put the premium on vineyard rather than cellar work. Getting ripe, healthy, low-yielding fruit into the... read more

One of Burgundy’s biggest-ever red wine crops (only 1982 was more productive). Pinot Noir, marked by exceptional ripeness and yields, prospered generally but the vintage hot spot was undoubtedly the southern Côte de Beaune: Pommard and Volnay turned in their best performance for a decade. The best Côte de Nuits wines are superstars too, but performance was more irregular there, penalised by late September rain. A quick and successful flowering in the second week of June, approximately one... read more

A slow-developing, firmly structured vintage, with strong cellar potential diametrically opposed to the fleshy, approachable 1997. A particularly trying growing season in 1998 not only reduced potential yields – through a combination of frost, hail, coulure (pollenation failure), powdery mildew, sunburn and heat stressing – but also led to irregular grape maturity. August’s heatwave temperatures did indeed ripen the crop but blocked photosynthesis on drought-prone upper slopes, amplifying the... read more

With four unready red Burgundy vintages cluttering the cellar (1990, 1993, 1995 and 1996), producers and consumers were ultimately happy that 1997 should turn out softer, rounder, and more approachable. Something was needed urgently for the shorter-term. Initially, though, the low yields, high grape sugars, unimprovable crop health and fine harvest weather led many to believe that 1997 would surpass even the pedigree of 1996 and 1995. In practice, however, few cuvées possessed quite the... read more

Continuing the decade's exceptional run of high quality Côte d'Or red Burgundy vintages 1996 produced firm, deeply flavoured wines for medium to long term drinking. The dominant taste characteristics of 1996 Pinot Noir in Burgundy were essentially dictated by two spells of freak weather. First, a solid fortnight of 30+ degrees centigrade days at the start of June ensured perfect flowering and, its corollary, a large crop. Second, exceptional dry, clear September weather sent grape sugar... read more

White Burgundy

2003 brought exceptionally challenging conditions for Chardonnay and the first result is simply quantitative. There is much less white Burgundy to go around than usual (typically, no more than half the crop) with certain sectors, such as Meursault, faring even worse. Many Chardonnays staged a great recovery in barrel, appearing fresher and tighter at the end of elevage than at the start, but even the most accomplished wines necessarily bear the heavy imprint of this crushingly hot vintage.... read more

A very good white Burgundy year, close to 1999 quality levels on the Côte de Beaune and trumping that vintage in the Mâconnais and Chalonnais. For Chablis, 2002s may equal or surpass the fine 2000s in structure but show less mineral intensity. Burgundy's very cold winter and bone dry spring underwrote the year's exceptional crop health. An exceptionally hot June, posting 36 degrees C temperatures and 55 hours more sunshine than normal, ensured rapid flowering. After this solid start, however,... read more

2001 whites are a lot better than the weather which begat them. A miserable, wet spring, with frost damage in Chablis, dragged out Chardonnay flowering. Wildly fluctuating conditions characterised the summer months with Chablis and the Mâconnais being notably wetter than the Côte de Beaune. Hail on 2nd August devastated Bouzeron and sliced through the southern Côte de Beaune, catching Meursault. Ripening accelerated through a generally hot, sunny August but stalled again in poor September... read more

A second consecutive fine Chardonnay vintage, and another huge crop, but the emphasis was different from 1999. A wildly irregular growing 2000 season, punctuated by frequent storms, gave contrasting results within and between growing zones. Burgundy’s northern and southern extremities - Chablis and the Mâconnais - excelled; performance was less uniform on the Côte de Beaune although certain white Burgundy producers there rate their 2000s at least as highly as their 1999s. May and June... read more

By a compensation mechanism reminiscent of 1981/1982, nature followed 1998’s short, frost-hit Chardonnay crop with a production glut in 1999. A quick and successful flowering in the second week of June, approximately one week in advance, led to a bumper fruit set: both the number of bunches per vine and the berry count per bunch were high. Ripening such volumes of fruit required exceptional weather, and Burgundy’s three weeks of uninterrupted sunshine from 20th August to 10th September... read more

A generally ripe crop but quantity varied widely according to location. Prime Côte de Beaune Chardonnay yields were savaged by a freakish run of bad weather and disease. After April frost and spring hailstorms came powdery mildew and, in August, a novel threat for Burgundy: sunburn. Four days of unremittingly fierce sun (Chablis recorded 42°C in the shade) scorched grapes unprotected by foliage. With photosynthesis arrested and grape maturity blocked by heat stress, rain was needed fast… but... read more

A stop-go growing season, marked by great climatic irregularities within and between regions, had prepared growers for the worst. But then, very hot conditions in August and September raised hopes of a truly great vintage. The three-week advance over a normal year registered at bud-burst gradually slipped back after damp, sunless weather in June and July, and the bans de vendanges were finally set about one week ahead of normal (6/9 - Mâconnais; 10/9 - Côte Chalonnaise; 11/9 - Côte de Beaune;... read more