2018 Red Burgundy: Actually A Subpar Vintage?

I’ve been buying Bourgogne to Grand Cru red burgs from 2018 and have opened maybe half a dozen assorted Bourgogne and village wines from good producers. The results have been mixed with some being ripe but with plenty of acid and others being way over the top. On Thanksgiving I opened my first 1er, the Bouchard (Domaine) Volnay Taillepieds. It was shockingly ripe, flabby, and one dimensional. The ripe fruit was also shrill with a hollow midpalate.

I know everyone said the 2018 vintage was heterogeneous but are others finding it to be less and less decent the more you taste? I’ve seen some rumblings here and there but also recognize I haven’t tasted a wide variety of producers yet. After this wine and a few other experiences, I think I’m officially done buying 2018. 2017 and 2019 are much more consistent and built for the long term.

That’s not shocking considering the producer and vintage.

I have opened probably 50 bottles of 18 1er and grand cru and have generally really liked them. The only bottle I didn’t care for so far was the 2018 Bertheau AC. Recently a 18 Esmonin LSJ was lovely.

Great to know. I was a bit spooked by the higher elevation Taillepieds being so flabby. Berthaut-Gerbet’s 18s have been the one bright spot for me thus far.

ufff. 2018 is a birth year for me. ive been picking up some long term bottles here and there for good prices when i can find them.

any initial reports on barthod in 2018?

Not going to open that yet. I’m reasonably deep on 18 because it’s my daughter’s birth h year. I have only had DRC and Rousseau from the higher end stuff and it was spectacular.

Seems like a vintage where Barthod would have done well, but I don’t know from personal experience.

Lafarge’s '18s are completely brilliant.

I do agree the vintage is highly variable and definitely on the darker/riper end of the spectrum. But I think there will be big winners from the vintage, as there usually are from riper vintages–and I think it’s broadly agreed that winemakers are better today than they were in 2003 at making balanced wines in hotter years.

Trapet is BOMB

Jean Pierre,
You type well for a 3 year old! I hope you find some nice bottles to set aside. I’ve opened some birth-year wines with my kids, who are now in their early twenties, but they’re more interested in beer and mixed drinks. I think I’ll hold many of those bottles until they’re older, and hopefully they’ll catch the wine bug.
Cheers,
Warren

I had the 18 Lafarge volnay and the 17 volnay vv fairly close to each other, the 18 was definitely better. Just grabbed more Chenes and ducs…I imagine they will be great.

The 2018 Dm Simon Bize SLB Aux Grands Liards I have a few months ago was excellent if very young. The riper year and the Bize old vineyards and wine making style seems to have played very well together

Nice comments …

I have been settled-down of buying red burgundy for quite some years now. In other words, I am bias and I only bought the wines from my few of preferred and favorite producers mainly based in Beaune and/or around Corton hill. I do not venture into buying wines from producer who do not know and have former experienced with them. 2018 reds are just arriving in Quebec, Canada for the last 9 months or so.

So are I have just tried 3 of 2018 : Bichot Pinot Noir VV; B. Glantenoy Volnay villlage 2018 and Des Croix -A-C Les Boutieres 2018. Many time for the Bichot; twice for Des Croix and only once for B. Glantenay. Each time, I matched the 2018 with the same wine from different vintage. I did not buy any Bichot PN VV from vintage 2017…so the many time, I only matched the 2016 and 2018. The other two were matched with the same wine from vintage 2017. During the process - which lasted the whole event ( or the whole of the afternoon if the event was held as a Brunch ). In other words, I paid lots of attention and seldom swirled the wine so as to let the wine took its time to evolve.

So in short I agree that the 2018 red is from a vintage of - Sun-Kissed-Grapes ( which I learned the term from Mr. Kelly ).

At this time of their life, it is not easy to make a call …unless you know the style producers.

Well…is it Subpar vintage. no idea. BUT…they are flying off their shelves in Quebec, Canada. If you wiat…the wines were gone within a week. i

If I would like to open a red for Xmas, I would open bottles from vintage 2016 or 2017 …like : Michel Mr. Chong said - he loves all the 2017 red.

And you read, write and know a good bit about wine! Well done. Damn, Warren beat me to it.

I’ve had the 18 Barthod village - I was hoping it might result in a wine that’s actually more drinkable but also have the acid structure of her usual wines (the reason I don’t usually buy them). I found it a lot more 18 than Barthod.
I wasn’t a big fan of the vintage when tasting in barrel (one producer compares it to 2003) and very little of what I’ve had in bottle since has convinced me otherwise. There are definitely good wines made in 18 (Mugneret-Gibourg, Lafarge, Arnoux-Lachaux are some of the wines I have personally) but I’ve not liked most of what I had and I passed on a number of my allocations.
I’ve done a number of tastings of 18s next to other vintages and the lack of acidity (and in some cases the heat) really stands out, including for some higher end producers.
Of course, this is just my opinion - other people really like the vintage. If you like 2003s in the northern Rhône, for example, you might love it.

I’d note I’m just referring to the reds, not the whites.

Greg - very well said.

So…in a way, it would be a Subpar vintage for the burgundy-wine lovers…who do not like red from hot-vintage years - for example 2003 !!

I think 18 is a lot better than 03; I would align it more closely with 15 and 09.

I think 15 and 09 are very different vintages. I also see very little similarity between 18 and 15; 15s will require a lot of time and have a lot of structure, unlike most 18s. I’m very wary of simply comparing vintages on the basis of them being “hot vintages”.

For burgundy lovers - one needs to have a vision and long-term plan, beside the necessary self-controlled determination ( not to open too. too many of them all at once just because you love them so much…).

I do not own and tried too, too many red from 2003 ( due to fact that I was anticipating the arrival of 2005 ). So in theory I will have to agree with your observation that 2018 should be better than 2003 as your preferred vignerons- most likely - learned and adjusted from their experience.

2018 would be align closely with 2009.

My experience with 2015 are very few. So far I did not do any match-tastings of 2015 and 2018 together. Maybe I should …in the fall of 2022,

I meant in quality.

I just tried a couple of different 2018 Michel Gros Haute Cote de Nuits offerings while visiting the in-laws over Thanksgiving, and thought they were really nice, particularly for the price point. Maybe there is something to the thought that this area can produce some nice offerings in warmer years.

I also see very little similarity between 18 and 15; 15s will require a lot of time and have a lot of structure, unlike most 18s.


Hmmmm…vintage comparison. Interesting and let us have a look of what Meadows said :


Here are the comments by Meadows of 2015 :

In the Côte de Beaune 2015 is the best vintage since 1999. It is not however without a few concerns that I will address though as a broad-sweeping generality, the 2015 reds are wines to search out and acquire. Moreover, it is a vintage that is excellent from top to bottom and to underscore the point, in 17 years of writing Burghound Issues, I have never had more recommended Top Value wines in the Burghound Selection chart. To be sure, it’s great at the top as well but if ever there was a vintage to explore for value, it’s this one. And of course it naturally follows that when the bottom of the appellation hierarchy is exceptional, it’s no stretch to imagine that the top portion is exceptional as well.


Here are the comments by Meadows of 2018 :

So, as with every vintage, the two questions for readers that take precedence over everything else always are: should you buy the 2018s and if so, how much of them? The best wines are impressively ripe, bold, concentrated and powerful with reasonable to reasonable plus levels of alcohol and just enough supporting acidity. While it’s true that they are atypical, the freshness and terroir transparency are better than one might imagine given the growing season that produced them and certainly better than say 2003 or 2009. They tend to have moderately firm to extremely firm tannic spines with the all-important element of balance, even if the majority tend to display at least some perceptible backend warmth.