2010 Burgundy
Progress Report August 2010
For the first three weeks of July, interrupted only by a storm on Bastille Day, July 14th., the weather was hot and sunny, with clear sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-30s – almost too hot if you had anything energetic to do, rather than just lazying round the pool.
The heat-wave broke on July 21st., with a severe thunderstorm and buckets and buckets of rain. Temperatures descended down into the low 20s, occasioning outbreaks of rot in the vineyards, and since then summer has edging its way back in.
The first week or so of August augurs well, according to the weather forecast.
It is already clear that 2010 is going to be a reduced crop. As a result of the long, drawn-out flowering, and the incement conditions which it took place in, there has been widespread coulure, particularly on the slopes, where the premiers crus are to be found.
The harvest is likely to begin around Sepember 20 to 25th.
Progress Report July 2010
With the exception of one fine day – Friday June 4th – the weather in the fisrt three weeks of June continued the same cool, wet pattern Burgundy had exerienced in May. The vines flowered late and patchily, and this will pose a question at vintage-time as the fruit, even within the same bunches, will be uneven in ripeness. Widespread coulure (failure of the flower to set into fruit) has largely been avoided, however. The losses are decribed as positive, rather than serious. The vintage is now set to commence around September 25th., later (apart from 2008) than what has been the norm in recent years.
From Tuesday June 22nd. the weather improved, and it has been nice and hot for more than a week now, broken only by a storm on the night of Monday June 28th. Despite initial reports that the vineyard of Beaune had suffered frost damage this appears not to have been the case: lots of rain, and some flooded cellars, but no reduction in the potential crop.
The long-range weather foreecast is for hot, sunny weather for the next fortnight.
Progress Report June 2010
As elsewhere – in Britain and on the eastern seaboard of the United States - the winter of 2010/2011 was long and drawn out, and here in Burgundy, if not except occasionally desperately cold or indeed snowy, offered no respite from the ice well into March. There was one severe attack of frost on December 22nd 2009, just before Christmas, which has caused widespread damage on the up-slope side of the road all the way from Gevrey-Chambertin down to Corgoloin. So far the Authorities have not yet seen fit even to mention this inconvenience, let alone to quantify it, but is obvious that any fruit from this part of the Côte will come from contre-bourgeon growth, i.e. the secondary buds which lie on the other side of the main ones on the cane and which are there as a form of insurance for just a case as this. As the flowering is already late – May having been proportionately as cool as the previous months – it is unlikely that this much later to develop fruit will ripen satisfactorily unless Burgundy experiences a real Indian summer.
Meanwhile such 2009s as have fully finished their malos confirm the excitement engendered last autumn. Growers are offering similarities in red more with 1999 than 2005. The whites are much better than 2005.
And the 2008s, now in bottle, have come round very encouragingly. The whites are brillant from Chablis to Montagny. The best vintage of the decade, say many. The reds are fresh, balanced, medium-full bodied and have lots of finesse and terroir definition. Do not pass them up!