2019 Burgundy Report from Fine & Rare

www.frw.co.uk/media/burgundy-2019-report

Featuring commentary from our own William Kelley. Seems to be widespread agreement; 2019 is concentrated and powerful, but EVERY dial seems to have been turned up, including energy and acidity - solaire vintage depth with classical balance. I’m in!

Very interesting to read the 13.5-14.5% alcohol across the board, and the observation that the higher quality areas (presumably = Grand Cru) are on the higher side. More interesting to read that many are unconcerned with this high alcohol %! What are the ramifications of this higher alcohol %? The nebbiolo threads generally seem to shrug this off, but there are some who believe the high alc % vintages are not going to be as long lasting as cooler climate vintages… plus nebbiolo’s supposedly higher alcohol is a reason for it to be cheaper than burgundy, no? I never had a 1947 burgundy (supposedly a higher alcohol vintage, as referenced in this report).

This is really nice to read, I got married in 2019 so I’ll be looking to stock up on the producers I love…

I think any kind of generalization beyond saying that alcohol levels are above average wouldn’t do justice to the range of outcomes along the Côte, and I refrained from giving figures in my comments for that reason. Having visited several hundred domaines, I met producers who didn’t hit 14% for any of their wines; and others who went a lot higher—Emmanuel Rouget’s Echezeaux is 16.2%, for example. For the most part it’s nicely integrated, however, owing more to dehydration caused by a dry north wind around harvest than over-ripeness, and I have encountered many fewer overtly alcoholic wines than in the 2018 vintage. The 2019 Burgundies don’t taste anything like Nebbiolo, to answer your implicit question.

I often get that reaction

As in… the finished product? Or will this still go down due to evaporation in barrels?

You’ll have to ask Rouget. They started picking on September 21 with their vineyards in the Côte de Beaune, meaning they were among the latest in 2019; so it wasn’t really a surprise.

mmm, Burgundy that ZINFANDEL lovers would love!

very good read of a newsletter. thanks for sharing!

William, other critics: please, make sure you quote the alcohol degree for every wine. I will not even consider buying anything I don’t know for sure it is below 13.5 or not. Whether it hides it well is not my concern, my concern is the impact on my metabolism short and long term… and the fact reducing consumption means half the bottles will be drunk as left overs… not at this price point…

+1

Absolutely add the alcohol content. Aside from the name of the wine, it’s about the most objective attribute that can be described. Readers can decide how to use this information.

I am concerned when writers say the alcohol is hidden/integrated. It may be the case young, but does this mean it will remain this way at maturity, when the fruits of youth and structure has mellowed?

Also - am sure there will be many pissed off buyers of Emmanuel Rouget Echezeaux 2019 if they buy on the strength of pro reviews (with no ABV mentioned) and then they see a 16+% ABV on the bottle.

William

Do you hear of any Burgundy producers considering rehydrating (adding water) in the scenario outlined above? If it is an issue of dehydration late in the ripening cycle, adding water would seem to offer a simple way of returning balance.

Paul

There would need to be strict rules, I mean if you are going to pay $1000 for a bottle of burgundy you would want to be pretty sure that the added tap water at least came from a tap in the same commune, although maybe you could charge more if you said that we topped up our Beaune village from the tap closest to La Tache.

I’m pretty sure it is illegal to add water to burgundy, although you can add sugar and acid.

I was under the impression that winemakers in Burgundy were forbidden to irrigate, let alone water back, but maybe I’m out of date

Agreed; having 16.2% alcohol is sufficiently freaky that it ought to be called out as a service to prospective buyers (and their livers)

d’Angerville’s 1937s were naturally in the high 13s, chaptalized up to the mid-14s: the wines are drinking beautifully today. So yes, Burgundy can integrate high alcohol and high alcohol Burgundies can age. But obviously not all do, and not all will.

The value of asking that question 2,000 times along the Côte would be proportional to the honesty of the responses. And that, well, that might vary… it’s important not to be naïve about such matters.

FWIW, a couple of producers have put me on the spot, asking me to guess the a.b.v. of the wines and identify the highest alcohol wine in the range. I have done pretty well, I’m happy to say. While sometimes the wine press has—due, I think, to the nature of how we taste—had a tendency to forgive overt alcohol imbalances, I try to pay attention to this aspect of balance.

I love Burgundy. I worry when Burgundy tasting notes start to sound like California Pinot notes. “EVERY dial seems to have been turned up” makes me nervous. Yes, I read the whole thing, and I know the critics say the terroir differences are still there. But other places have terroir too and marginal weather was one factor that made Burgundy Burgundy.

Alas, I think London EP is canceled, and I wouldn’t travel even if it wasn’t. I really like to try the wines myself. I’ll still buy, but with reservations.

Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, and don’t necessarily attach too much importance to attempts to hype the vintage which don’t in fact succeed in hitting your buttons: try a few bottles before you make up your mind. Unless one has great allocations in the UK, the upside of buying EP is less and less meaningful anyway. In terms of how they taste in the glass, and as ever to generalize, 2019 reds taste quite a bit less extreme, and indeed much more classic, than 2018 reds! There are some lovely wines to be had.

William… thank you for the coverage!

Do you find 2019 similar to 2015 in terms of depth/warmth/fruit profile?