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Great wine can be made despite difficult harvest in Burgundy
A low yielding and variable harvest in Burgundy this year is favouring reds from northern parts of the Côte d’Or.
Irregular flowering during spring, coupled with an arid summer and some storms during harvest time has made it a difficult vintage for whites especially, but Alain Serveau, head winemaker at Albert Bichot, told the drinks business that it is possible to make “great wine” in 2010.
“It has not been an easy vintage in terms of flowering or grape maturity and it was not easy to decide the date of harvest,” he said last Friday at the negociant-proprietor’s Domaine du Château Gris in the heart of Nuits-Saint-Georges.
“I think we chose the right dates and picked earlier in the white wine area,” he added, referring to the Côte de Beaune where thunderstorms on 12 September forced some, such as Bichot, to bring forward planned harvest dates.
“We waited longer for the reds and the Côte de Nuits are particularly beautiful,” he said, adding, “but yields are very low.”
“The berries are very small and we think we can make very good wine, with good concentration, although I think some vineyards have been attacked by rot.”
Hence, he stressed: “I think some vineyards can’t make great wine, good, but not great, while others are very beautiful – it is possible to make great wine in 2010.”
He concluded that the rain before the harvest “wasn’t bad for the balance of the reds – and it’s the same for Beaujolais and the Côtes du Rhône where they are making a very big vintage.”
On the other hand, in Burgundy, the yields are “disappointing” according to Serveau, “and in some cases lower than 2003.”
Yields are down 10% on average across Burgundy compared to a normal year, but have dropped by as much as 35% in the Côte de Nuits.
For example, Bichot normally vinifies 750 barrels at its Domaine du Clos Frantin winery, but this year the quantity is just 400 barrels.
However, Serveau said that the low production this year might be beneficial from a pricing point of view.
“Perhaps it’s good for the market because everyone waited for 2009 and has now got stocks – so if there’s not enough 2010 we can keep prices the same.”
Patrick Schmitt, 14.10.2010