Around this time of year, Wine-Journal usually pitches up with a deluge of Burgundy tasting notes gleaned from two intense weeks tasting “in the field” down in the Cote d’Or, augmented by a flotilla of notes from the merchant tastings that sprout over London before our New Year’s hangovers have barely worn off. This year, I have pulled back from a comprehensive coverage for two reasons: firstly because my colleague Antonio will deliver his report at the end of February and secondly, I have a few more areas to cover. 

But having covered Burgundy since 1997 both as a buyer and as a scribe, I felt duty-bound to attend a smattering of the tastings in the capital in order to offer readers on this side of the Atlantic, a concise report complementary to Antonio’s. I focused on growers that I have followed and visited over the years, plus those that caught my eye. I must confess, it was quite a refreshing and liberating not feeling coerced to taste through one hundred wines by the crack of dawn, not that I ever tasted beyond palate fatigue in previous years.

Burgundy continues to hypnotize the soul in a way that other regions can only dream about, and the hype swirling around the 2010 vintage was more clamorous than I could ever remember. Nowadays, every UK wine writer has to be seen in Burgundy. It is a far cry from just a few years ago when hardly any paid much interest. A few long-toothed Burgundy-lovers expressed concern that their beloved Pinots are succumbing to the same fate as Bordeaux i.e. relegated into “chips” for the wealthy to be moved around like stocks and shares. Yet the severe finite supply will always prevent a stable, fluid secondary market from evolving and inevitably stymie speculation. Coupled with this, is the fact that Burgundy collectors covet their prized, irreplaceable bottles like babies, possibly more so. They would not part with them for any amount of money (but do not hesitate in sharing them with others, as numerous off-lines soirees written up on Wine-Journal testify.)

Bordeaux is for showing off. 

Burgundy is for sharing. 

So whilst I am certain that numerous affluent collectors are circling the 2010s like hungry vultures with one beady eye on the dozen or so blue chip names, they may be about to find that money can buy you a Lear jet, a Piaget watch or a stately home...but not a bottle of Musigny from Christophe Roumier.

I will not go into excessive detail with respect to the growing season; suffice to say that it was the poor fruit set during flowering (millerandange) that was the key moment. Several growers commented that if yields were not naturally slashed early on in the season, the subsequent cool damp months would have wasted the vintage. But with yields down up to 50%, the vintage turned out to be (what d’ya mean you haven’t heard!), a bit of a humdinger at the top end. Louis-Michel Liger-Belair described how the testing growing season amply demonstrated the virtues of the best terroirs i.e. the top premier and grand crus, and that as a consequence, the village cru and generic wines needed severe selection. Therefore, my impression is that 2010 is not as consistent throughout the hierarchy as say, 2005 or even 2009. At the generic rung, sourced from lesser terroirs, the cooler summer inhibited fruit reaching physiological ripeness despite the lower yields. This was born out at a tasting through Louis Jadot red wines where the “lesser” wines were often green and raw, whilst the top climats were far more impressive.

Stylistically, the best red wines remind me of 2008 but with silkier textures and greater complexities. Acidity levels are high compared to 2009 and this led to the leitmotif of “tension” in the wines that felt as if they are about to shatter the glass. The tannins are sometimes chalky or brittle in the mouth and there is often a distinct eschewing of the fleshiness, the corpulence that made 2009s so charming in their youth. Yet you could argue that terroir expression is more evident and there would also seem to be wider variance between climats the previous vintage. The whites are bound to be overshadowed by the red, although I found a lot to admire, particularly from Meursault and Chassagne. Of course, there remains the stigma about premature oxidation that has dented demand and that is always at the back of my mind when advocating such wines that can be like playing Russian roulette with a Riedel. At least the Burgundy winemakers seem no longer in denial but a prognosis seems a long way off.  

(Jean-Marie Fourrier, who produced some of his best wines ever in 2010.)