armit - Burgundy 2008 En Primeur

Burgundians often talk about both their vines and their wines as members of the family. This is, after all, a region where the majority of vignerons lay their heads a few feet above their cellars and open the shutters of their bedroom windows every morning to behold the sight of their beloved vines. A number even confess to getting up in the dead of night to check on their barrels. One suspects that they often read them a story.

This level of parental care was obligatory throughout the 2008 growing season and continued through the time in cellar. In human terms, this was a vintage with an awkward courting, an imperfect conception, a worrying gestation and a traumatic birth. However, despite all of the inevitable stress, the signs are that something rather beautiful and unique has emerged, against the odds. Of course, not everyone has excelled: there were too many hurdles for that and the wheat and the chaff have certainly had to be separated. However, those that have triumphed can rightly fill their chests with both Gallic and parental pride.

The key to the best 2008s lay in the wonderful late season weather of September and the hours of committed toil in the vineyards in the months leading up to it to counter the challenges created by a damp, overcast and cool summer.

Despite a sharp cold snap in mid-December, the winter of 2007/2008 was mild and fairly uneventful. In March however, steady rain arrived and a couple of days of further snow followed, including the Easter weekend. The vegetative cycle was reluctant to get started. Budburst is often noted around Easter according to the traditional proverb but April was almost out before it got underway. There was certainly nothing of the splendid Spring seen in 2007, this was a far more timid, shy initiation. With the south-west wind dominant, humid conditions were already in place. Being ready to counter the threat of mildew was paramount however it was so wet in May that getting a tractor into the vineyard for treatments was very hard. Much of the work therefore had to be done by hand, adding expense and lengthening time, not to mention the physical burden. Only the most committed prevailed.

June started cool and the problematic pattern continued with consistent rain meaning flowering took place in less than ideal conditions causing a poor set of the fruit and a high proportion of millerandage.
As the summer solstice arrived, the expected warmth never materialised. The skies were cloudy, the rain fell incessantly. The twin problems of mildew and oidium both reared their heads and hailstorms hit a number of sectors of the Côte towards the end of July, following earlier storms in April.
With rot in the air, the convention is of course to deleaf in order to allow air to circulate however by doing this in such a cool year, you immediately further reduced the vine’s ability to photosynthesize. Vigilance and pre-emptive strikes were once again vital but despite best efforts, grey rot and botrytis inflicted further angst and in some cases damage as the final days of the season approached.

No parent can ever consider giving up on their child but at the end of August 2008, many were ready to throw in the towel. With no sign of a change in the weather, a tangible sense of despair hung in the air. What then occurred around 13^th September can either be described as prayers answered or incredible luck, or both. As grapes reach maturity, their skins become softer and when swollen by rainfall and threatened by rot, the prospects are not good. What is needed is fresh, dry, bright conditions to banish the rot, dry the skins and concentrate the remaining juice and with the arrival of the North wind, this is exactly what happened. For two weeks, Burgundy enjoyed a fabulous period of clear skies and bright days with cool nights and the grapes were finally able to reach ripeness whilst maintaining fresh acidity. The entire vintage was brought back from the brink.

Pickers heard the starter’s gun around 22nd September, with estates in full action by 26^th. With beautiful conditions all over the Côte, pickers were able to work efficiently. The fine fortnight had been the perfect tonic but do not think for a minute that everyone escaped. The sorting tables were in full use and plenty of fruit was discarded, further diminishing the total yield. It was immediately clear that the fruit was from a cool year. The Pinot skins were pale and fragile, certainly neither deep nor black, and stalks and pips needed to be analysed carefully as it was rare to see ripeness in every part of the bunch. For the Chardonnay, the high levels of acid were immediately apparent but so too was a welcome concentration of juice thanks to the desiccating effect of the North wind. Only on some of the more early-ripening sectors of the Puligny-Meursault border did a degree of botrytis infection seem to linger but many vignerons kept a little bit of the noble rot-affected fruit in the press to add a little complexity.

Whereas the 2007 harvest was relatively straightforward to vinify, 2008 was rather more complicated. The biggest issue has been the glacial pace of the malolactic fermentation, the vital process during which the harder malic acid is transformed into softer lactic acid, allowing the wines to become rounder and less aggressive. Many theories abound as to why this was so but the most common is that the high levels of malic acid are a direct result of the cool growing season and the fermentation was further hindered by unusually low levels of the microbes that are the vital catalyst for the transformation.

Whatever the reasons, prolonged malolactic fermentation is not that uncommon and not something to be worried about but that said, growers would much prefer to see it completed in mid-summer rather than continuing on beyond the following harvest. For some very small and resource-constrained producers it can be a struggle to have two vintages in the cellar at once for simple reasons of space but all are agreed that they would rather do anything else than avoid having to rush the malolactic through in a forced way and thus intervening in the complex construction of aromas and textures that are so vital to the quality of the finished wine. As Bernard Hervet at Faiveley was quick to remind us, “making great wine inevitably involves taking a few risks”.

‘Malo’ aside, many winemakers chaptalised by a half degree or so as they did in 2007 in order to prolong the fermentation and many more destemmed their fruit than in the past this year in the hope of avoiding any trace of harsh, green tannins from unripe stalks. In whites, a number of vignerons, realising the pure, fresh and mineral character of the young wines, reduced batonnage to a minimum and ensured that they only worked with the very finest lees. The oak regime also came in for examination with new oak and high toasting definitely less in favour. For reds, heavy extraction with lots of pumping over and cap punching was avoided by those looking to accentuate the inherent purity of the vintage. This is not a year with an abundance of deep, black wines or rich, heady whites with more than 14 degrees alcohol.

Although Chardonnay supports a higher yield than Pinot, in a cool year those that pruned hard and left fewer bunches on the vine allowed more of the vine’s energy to ripen the remaining fruit. Old vines, of course, were an advantage, as were vineyards on well-drained plots and especially on the slopes. Huge work was needed in the vineyard throughout 2008 but as mentioned above, it was the arrival of the north wind in mid-September that totally rescued the crop. Those able to benefit from the last two weeks of September not only harvested in fine conditions but brought in fruit of concentration, great minerality and freshness.

This is not a vintage where one village has outperformed another. There really is something here for everyone stylistically and this is a vintage in white that defies pigeon-holing. If you are looking for juicy, fruit driven wines to drink young, they are there. If you desire something more mineral and classic, that can also be found. If you like a touch of the exotic, 2008 can also provide that. In short, this is a vintage that repays doing your homework and tasting widely and please do not believe anybody that tries to paint the vintage with the same broad brushstroke- it couldn’t be further from the truth.

The more successful wines do hail from the slopes but even more influential was the effort of the vigneron. If ever there was a vintage to buy by grower, this is the one. As one would expect, great domaines such as Leflaive, Roulot, Fontaine Gagnard and Sauzet have all put in performances worthy of their reputations. The top whites of Bouchard Père et Fils and the new whites at Faiveley are also extremely impressive and the Chablis at Fèvre and Droin has already received much deserved praise and have mostly sold already.

However, all of these growers have wines in their ranges that are more or less mineral or fruit-driven, tauter or fatter, more reserved or more exuberant. There are wines out there that will be immediately pleasurable, full of fruit and freshness and a delight in their early years- the wines of Domaine Marc Morey and Jean-Marc Blain come to mind. Others, through their concentration and dry mineral extract, demand time. Do not rush the wines of Leflaive, which show all the hallmarks of following previous classic years such as 2007, 2004 and 1996 although with more accessibility in their youth.

The need to keep Pinot yields low was well understood across the Côte and a recurring theme of lower than normal volumes makes this a small crop with sadly reduced availability, particularly acute for those seeking their favourite Grand Cru.

Stylistically, we see the best 2008 reds as sleek, lithe wines with great inner strength and rigour but no excess weight and little by way of flamboyance. The fruit character is generally red rather than black, the textures are refined rather than unctuous and the profile is graceful and strong rather than powerful and dominating. It is also a transparent vintage which is a double-edged sword: if you possess a gentle hand, sensitivity and intelligence, then your reds will show every nuance of their terroir with brightness, clarity and energy, clearly a plus if you happen to be in a great climat. Here then, the échelle des crus comes into full focus and quality climbs, as it should, as you approach the summit. However, if you are negligent, heavy-handed or overly-confident, then the transparency of the vintage means that faults are displayed, warts and all, whether you have Bonnes Mares or humble Bourgogne.

Vintages that have behaved like this in the past include 2001, 1998 and 1993 and all of those have produced memorable wines many of which have surpassed the superstars of more famous years such as 2002, 1999 or 1990. This unforgiving aspect and inherent variability again means that the focus on growers rather than appellations is paramount. Amongst the superstars, the thrilling wines produced at d’Angerville, in particular, and also at Fourrier, Roumier and Arnoux-Lachaux, demonstrate great domaines at the top of their game which are still continuing to forge ahead. Rapid advances continue to be made at Faiveley and Taupenot Merme too- the wines are so much fresher and more defined than in the past, so much more fun. Those on the bargain hunt would do particularly well to linger over the offers from the fabulous Jean-Marc Millot as well as the silky wines of Anne & Herve Sigaut.

Regarding ageability, we come down on the side of patience. Despite the fashion for juicy, young Pinot, we believe that the 2008s will make wonderful bottles given the appropriate amount of time and we wouldn’t mind placing a few bets that a good number will, in their different style admittedly, prove superior to 2005. Where this vintage is good, it is very good indeed.

Burgundy has woken up to the existence of “La Crise’ and the big négociants are far less willing now to take on big stocks and to pay over the odds en vrac than they were twelve months ago. With the bulk market thus calmed, it is the growers who will carry stocks should sales not be successful and thus a sharper ear is listening to the varying fortunes of the markets. For the moment, the domestic market in France remains strong, to the great surprise of all, and it has largely taken up the slack resulting from weakened demand from the US and the UK over the last 12-18 months. How long this can be sustained is the question on everyone’s lips. Domestic, European and American markets are still the most substantial ones for Burgundy. Asia is a smaller factor in the Burgundian pricing equation and although there is clearly growth, it is nothing like that seen in recent months for Bordeaux. Japan, a mature market that particularly reveres mature wines, is the regional leader rather than Hong Kong/China and so it is the traditional Japanese characteristics of patience and stability that are more important than the more risk-taking and profligate ones seen during the boom for the Chinese and Hong Kong markets.

From a UK perspective, our advice to the growers has been to provide stimulus to the market wherever they can. It may be rare for the French to take pity on les Rosbifs but the unhappy confluence of recession, a desperately weak currency, increased taxation and a rudderless government do not make for a compelling case for higher prices. We expect that the majority will stay at the same level, in euros, as for 2007, despite the lower yields, and a good number may well come down in price. It should be remembered that Burgundians have never priced for the short term à la Bordelaise, and in many instances, prices have been maintained for many years. The UK is still a prestigious market for the growers and all wish to be present and successful here. We very much hope then that growers make a special effort where they can. In turn, we will do whatever we can to price the 2008s as attractively as we can.

Vintage conditions such as those experienced in 2008 would have resulted in total failure 20 or 30 years ago. Even the miraculous turnarnoud in mid September would have been too little, too late but today, thanks to the huge advances made in this generation, even nature at its most problematic can be conquered. That there are 2008 Burgundies worth buying let alone celebrating is the best evidence of the golden era that we are in for the region and we see every reason why Burgundy lovers will delight in their favourite wines from this vintage. In short, the growers worked their chaussettes off, kept faith and so should we. They have produced children of flair, individual beauty and character rather than clones from a production line. It will be a pleasure to get to know them and watch them develop in the years ahead.

Long time drinkers and collectors of great Burgundy will know that competition for the very finest and scarcest cuvées is always fierce but it is always worth repeating this, especially for those discovering the joys of Burgundy for the first time. Where demand exceeds supply, we will always favour those customers who balance their demands across the board as well as those who have supported in previous vintages.

Starting a collection

If you are entering the market for Burgundy En Primeur for the first time, we are aware that the sheer number of different wines and the fragmented nature of the market can seem daunting. At armit we take our Burgundy very seriously and want to share the thrills and spills of it with you. Our team of advisors will guide you through the process, and will talk you through the different styles as well as helping you to plan a selection with drinking dates and for a budget that matches your requirements. Please call us on 0207 908 0660.

Our Burgundy En Primeur tasting is one of the highlights of the year and will be held on 13^th January 2010. Many of our growers will make the trip to London to present their wines and this is therefore the very best opportunity to discover the new vintage and to talk it through with the men and women behind the labels. Quite simply, this is an event that you cannot afford to miss if you are interested in Burgundy. Please contact Lucy Marcuson for ticket information on 0207 908 0600

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