Generally, yields were lower in the Côte de Beaune, which has produced more concentrated wines heading to 14% ABV and above. Even where the analysis was similar to that in the Côte de Nuits, the alcohol seemed higher in the Côte de Beaune, and the acidity softer. Many of the producers in the Côte de Beaune commented on the thick skins at harvest, and there are wines with rustic tannins, where you sense fruit that was picked before optimal phenolic ripeness (probably because it was dehydrating). Tasting through the Côte de Nuits, I started so many of my notes with “ripe, generous, and juicy fruit,” then wondered what came next—sometimes, not a lot, in fruity wines that lacked intensity, because there had been just too much juice in the grapes. Happily, however, there are also wines with decent substance and depth. The tannins are generally on the gentle side, light and fine-grained, ambling hand-in-hand with the soft acidity. This is not a vintage for grippy or robust tannin on the Côte de Nuits; be they crunchy or smooth, they are pleasant, quite light, and have integrated swiftly into the wine. Indeed, many wines have remarkably light tannins for the Côte de Nuits, and with their lowish acidity, they can seem to lack structure. On the positive side, though, they are easily accessible.


Some are just about fresh enough, while others are quite lively. Where the acidity was a little low, it was sometimes tweaked; and the same can be said for the sugar—although not, we would hope and trust, in the same wine (which is illegal). I often found myself writing about wines that seemed to glide or slide across the palate. There is a relaxed


WINES FROM DEEP, RICH CLIMATS, WHICH ARE USUALLY UP


FRONT AND MUSCULAR, ARE MORE DEMURE AND POLITE. A PLAYFUL CRACKLE AND CRUNCH, BUT THERE IS NO CRACK OF THE WHIP


feel to this vintage, but also a certain lack of dynamism. Wines from deep, rich climats, which are usually up front and muscular, are more demure and polite in 2023. From white, stony soils, there is seldom anything more than mild austerity; a playful crackle and crunch. There is no crack of the whip in 2023. In short, there is a clear difference between the two halves of the Côte d’Or. In the Côte de Beaune, the reds are generally more concentrated and higher in alcohol—no doubt due to the lower yields—but there are also wines with green and rustic tannins. In the Côte de Nuits, the heatwave helped ripen the larger crop load, but here there are far more wines that lack substance.


Vintages to compare and contrast Whites The 2023 whites are not unlike the 2022s, but with a little less acidity, depth, and structure. Alternatively, they are somewhat like 2017, with more alcohol and body but less acidity; some producers insist that 2023 has more acidity, though I am seldom persuaded.


The wines that feel sweet on the finish remind me of 2019, but with less acidity and less concentration. For an older vintage—maybe 2009? Some wines were already in bottle or being prepared for bottling before the end of 2024. But patience will pay dividends. Those that will have had a second winter before bottling—especially when it is spent in stainless steel—will sharpen, drop in pH a little and, with a final polish, will not be far off the style of 2022, just not as concentrated. Frédéric Weber at Bouchard Père & Fils says, “The whites have the generosity and purity of 2017, which is ripe but with fine acidity, though 2023 has more dry extract.” Brian Sieve at Domaine de Montille has changed his mind about the aptness of the 2017 comparison: “2023 is now like 2019 for whites, but in barrel they were showing more like 2017.”


Reds


On the Côte de Beaune, the red-fruited, softer, sweeter wines resemble 2017, with some of the ripeness of 2015, but without the caliber of that earlier vintage. The darker, more tannic wines are much closer to 2018. That year, the yields were also high and the analyses similar, but the reds were generally more Port-like—higher in alcohol, with black, plummy fruit, while the thick-skinned and sometimes even sunburned berries gave more rustic tannins. There is certainly an element of this in 2023, but generally there are lighter and softer tannins than in 2018. On the Côte de Nuits, the best comparison, at least for now, is also 2017—another very fruity Pinot vintage of modest substance. But there is a


THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 87 | 2025 | 175


LAYING DOWN: 2023 BURGUNDY: INTRODUCTION


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