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armit - Burgundy 2010 Vintage Report
Burgundy 2010 Vintage Report

Small but perfectly formed
Introduction
With the page turned and a new chapter begun, how would the story of Burgundy continue in the second decade of the 21st century? Without doubt, it has been a fascinating twelve months. Below you will find details of the growing season, the key stylistic points of the wines and some thoughts on the market. But let us begin by stating our view that 2010 is a remarkable vintage that has certainly produced wines of exceptional quality. However, rather than the relative easy ride of 2009, it has done so by asking questions and throwing up challenges. In the past, such a year would have overcome many vignerons but today, there is such talent combined with a commitment to quality in the region that great wines are emerging even in more seemingly unlikely circumstances.
The famously contrarian Freddy Mugnier ventures that the great years now and in the future will be the cool years, the years where the work of the vigneron is most important. If he is right, there are no shortcuts to achieve this- being a vigneron at this level is no romantic idyll. To continue to distinguish itself, Burgundy while have to keep its feet on the ground and in its vineyards and should it achieve this, the region will continue to go from strength to strength.
The Growing Season
The major event of the winter of 2009/10 occurred a week before Christmas when a snap frost saw temperatures plummet twenty degrees below zero. At such extreme temperatures, the vine is already at risk but even more catastrophic was the immediate return to relative warmth the following day, effectively a thirty degree surge in twenty four hours. Frozen roots couldn't handle it and as their water content expanded, some literally exploded. The worst affected areas were the low-lying vineyards on the flats, nearest the route nationale. Anyone driving up and down the RN74 cannot fail to notice the large areas being grubbed up and replanted. There will be significant shortages in village and generic wines, particularly in the Côte de Nuits, for many years to come.
January and February represented a 'proper' winter- cold, little sunlight and with snow on the ground. After the final frosts in mid-March, warmer weather arrived and continued throughout April. The vine was stirred into activity with budding taking place quickly in the warmth. May was cooler and slowed things down and in early June, the key period of flowering commenced under cold, blustery and often wet conditions, stretching out over a period of almost three weeks. The result was extremely uneven with widespread coulure and millerandage.
From late June onwards, the picture was unsettled with the constant threat of oidium and other vine diseases. Vignerons needed to be in the vineyard as much as possible. When warmth returned, as it did in late June and early July, it never stayed for long. Memories of the holiday season from mid-July throughout most of August were of regular rain and cool temperatures. As September loomed, acid levels in the plants were still high and sugar levels were inching up slowly. A boost was provided by brighter weather in the final days of August and early September when strong winds also helped to concentrate the fruit on the vines as well as keep rots at bay. On 12th September, a violent storm hit Santenay and brought with it a heightened threat of rot developing in neighbouring villages. With nerves frayed, most growers decided enough was enough and the harvest commenced in the following days.
The Harvest
The coulure and millerandage that followed the poor flowering had reduced yields quite dramatically, up to 60% in some parcels with most domaines reporting an overall average reduction in yields of around 25-30%. The advantage of this, given the cool climatic conditions, was of course that there was a smaller quantity of fruit to ripen and the vine was thus able to concentrate its energies into the fruit that was there, rather than dilute it. With the slow but steady maturation and fully extended 'hang time', many domaines reported beautiful, healthy but very small berries at harvest time. Jean Marie Fourrier likened his crop to caviar and had to buy a special sorting table as his normal 8mm gauge table was too big! Most growers started picking around 17th September with only a very few continuing beyond the end of the month. Picking was done parcel by parcel, with reds and whites coming in at the same time depending on the ripeness of the specific site.
In the Cellar
Despite the cool summer, the extended harvest period had allowed normal sugar levels to be obtained. Chaptalisation, where it was carried out, was typically done from half to one full degree, with very few wines exceeding 13.5°. High acid levels were a feature from the beginning, giving a freshness to the fruit, not dissimilar to the 2008s. Malolactic fermentations were erratic, some domaines reporting that they had all finished by early spring of 2011 whereas at other addresses, they were still continuing during our autumn visits. Some cuvées advanced at a remarkably different pace to others, even in the same cellar and what was reassuring to see was that growers seemed untroubled by this, happy for nature to take its course. Many remember the recent experiences of 2004 and 2008 when malos were especially extended and thus take confidence in allowing flavours to develop slowly, if so required.
With high ratios of skin to juice in the small, concentrated berries, destemming the reds gained more favour than using whole bunches. Although there are no hard and fast rules, most vignerons remain open-minded about the value of the use of stems but with so little juice, increasing the percentage of solids was something that most opted against. Extraction happened easily, with little need for extended cuvaison or heavy cap-punching. Aromatic freshness and complexity could thus be preserved and with tannins showing refinement, the young wines showed good early promise.
The Wines
Whites
Confidence in the quality of the whites was seemingly never in doubt once the fruit was in. There is a freshness and liveliness to the wines that excite the taster at first acquaintance. Only the very latest-ripening corners of the Côte show a lack of maturity. The vast majority of wines show ripeness, finesse, minerality, balance and excellent definition of terroir.
There is a salty, dry feeling in many of them but there is also purity and a crystalline nature to the fruit, with flavours generally more citric than stonefruit and in the best examples, the floral and herbal notes are also strongly present.
The more grown-up wines will certainly benefit from a little time in bottle and will be best enjoyed at the table, rather than wowing the judges in a lineup. The general consensus is that they resemble the 2008s but with more allure and are certainly in contrast to the more generous 2009s. Unmistakably, this is a style of Chardonnay that only Burgundy can provide. As the brilliant Brian Sieve, the chef de cave at de Montille, who hails from California, memorably stated: '2010 is why I came to Burgundy'.
Reds
The reds were more of an unknown quantity. Most were surly and unresponsive, still firmly under malo, during our spring and summer visits but by the time we returned in the autumn, the wines were transformed and most of our growers struggle to contain their enthusiasm for them apart from one key aspect. This was most succinctly summed up by Pascal Lachaux: "It's a fresh, classic, Burgundian vintage. But there's no wine!" While their higher acidic profiles and greater tension, and not least the tiny volumes, may make them less commercial than the 2009s, for transparency, vitality and fragrance, they are as good as anything we can remember tasting.
Better than 2009?
The noted critic Allen Meadows is just one who has already posed this teasing question, one that would have been seemingly unthinkable twelve months ago. As we have said before, it is of course fun to rank vintages and it certainly helps to sell books, magazines and newsletters! Looking at the question objectively, the 2009s show greater consistency from top to bottom and across appellations. It is very hard to go wrong and although the power of the vintage is in the ascendant at the moment, we believe that there is such depth to the best wines that they will make fabulous bottles long into the future.
By contrast, in 2010 the échelle des crus seems to be more in evidence at this stage and there is certainly a greater range, from soaring peaks to some occasional crashing lows. The differences in vineyards are already remarkably clear, unusual in such young wines and it is this that is causing so much of the early excitement, alongside the gorgeous purity and freshness of fruit. In the long term, the 2009s will probably hold sway but the 2010s will tell you more about their origins and characters in the meantime and purists will gravitate to them. For us it is not a question of which to buy. The whole point of Burgundy is its ability to show its differences and this is as valid across vineyards as it is across producers and, of course, vintages.
The Market
In an ideal world, there would be an endless supply of great burgundy that we could all access whenever we wished, at prices that don't cause us to look at the final bill.
Sadly, we all know that such a place does not exist and, we are sorry to say, the ideal seems to be getting further and further away. The tiny volumes of 2010 have arrived at exactly the moment when interest in Burgundy has surged to new levels. We would like to think that this is wholly inspired by widescale appreciation of its inherent beauty but this has as much to do with the shift of economic power to the East and to the pricing policies of the Bordelais as it does to education. Even the eurozone crisis, which does seem to have had an impact in the fall in prices for the 2011s at the recent Hospices de Beaune auction, will not be able to stem the tide for long.
In short, pressure on allocations has never been greater. It is therefore to be warmly applauded that growers remain modest in their pricing. Most will increase from last year, not a hard thing to understand when you have a quarter or more missing in your inventory. But very few will deliberately re-calibrate the scale, as we have seen in Bordeaux. Growers in Burgundy remain conscious of ensuring that their wines are drunk and savoured, still featuring on the restaurant lists where Bordeaux is now fast disappearing and in the private cellars that have sold their clarets and are restocking with Burgundy, Rhône, Italians and Spanish instead.
Conclusion
So, 2010 has come out rather well. Vintage of the century? We have never heard anyone in Burgundy use the term and it is fairly safe to assume that there will be some wonderful wines produced over the next 90 years that will run 2010 pretty close! Should you buy it? The answer to that is an unequivocal and resounding yes. The quality alone merits it and with the ability of the vintage to show its origins so well, you can even learn more while you drink! More prosaically, while it is available and prices are still within reach, you should drink as deeply from Bacchus' cup as you can. Our tasting on 11th January promises once again to be a wonderful evening and we look forward to seeing our customers discover the same pleasures and joys from these wines that we have enjoyed already over the last year.