Chanson Père et Fils: 2024 vintage ‘one of the hardest ever’ in Burgundy

The 2024 vintage in Burgundy was one of the “hardest ever” according to Chanson Père et Fils with yields down up to 60%. Despite some similarities with the “disastrous” 2021 vintage however, there is little danger of history repeating itself, export manager Vincent Wallays told Arabella Mileham.

Speaking to the drinks business at a recent tasting, Vincent Wallays, export manager of Chanson Père  et Fils quoted the domaine’s viticulturalist Justine Savoye who said it had been “her hardest year ever”. He explained that because the vineyards in the Côte de Beaune have been fully organic since 2024 (the new Côte Chalonnaise vineyards are undergoing conversion and should be certified by 2027), it was necessary to do repeated contact treatments to prevent mildew. “We have to redo it about, I think more than 20 times” he told db, up from the six or seven treatments in a ‘normal’ year.

The 2024 vintage seeing some of its lowest yield – down 60-62% in some places, Wallays said – its Chardonnay in the Côte de Beaune yielded around 36hl/ha, with the Pinot Noir only 19 or 20hl/ha, down from the average “sweet spot for quality and quantity” of 37-38hL/h, he said.

As a result, one of the thorniest questions has been that of price, something that has a big challenge, new CEO Thierry Berger agreed. With the economic situation of markets around the globe proving tricky, it was important to keep pricing of the reds stable, he said. But given the low yields it had proved virtually impossible to avoid an increase on the whites, and these are on allocation this year.

Wallays noted however that Chanson was ensuring that there was no repeat of disruption to the markets seen as a result of the 2021 poor yields, which affected both the price, sending it upwards, and availability, which obviously spiralled down.

“The ‘21 vintage was “devastating for us”, he noted, but the domaine is in a far better position this time around, even in view of the low yields, because of the plentiful “and amazing quality” 2022 and 2023 vintages.

Great promise

And the 2024 wines are showing great promise. The harvest commenced on the 11 September with the reds in Beaune Premier Cru Clos de Roi, followed by the Beaune PC Du Roi, Côte Chalonnaise, and Mercurey Clos d’Eveque.

“What we noticed at first on the vintage ‘24 is the phenolic ripeness of the wines from the Côte Chalonnaise, which is higher than you find in Côte de Beaune or Côte de Nuits,” he said. “So we’re blessed even though the yields on the Côte Chalonnaise are not there yet.”

In terms of the wider market, Wallays agreed it had been a very, very challenging year, describing the wine world “like a cake that has been expanding for decades, but is now shrinking”.

“If you want to extend your cells, that’s mean that you need to be better, and that’s mean that you’re taking shares from someone else,” he said. “Apparently, we’re doing a good job, though, because we’re going to land with export up 6% or 7% this year without the help of the US [market], which is dramatically down.”

He clarified that this was for a multitude of reason, not solely due to the newly tariff regime.

“The growth that is compensating [for the US] and even overcompensate it, is coming from Asia,” he said, partly on the back of the “tactical move” of working with Suntory. Meanwhile Canada and Europe have also proved to be strong markets.

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