NOUVEAU § 2024 Burgundy: Over the rainbow
After two abundant crops, a very challenging growing season saw production slump throughout the region last year. But did quality follow quantity downward? And will prices remain relatively stable, as they did at the Hospices de Beaune sale in November? Neil Beckett reports
A
s a Scot who grew up on the country’s Atlantic coast, I was able to express what I hope
came across as genuine sympathy when listening to the many tales of weather woe related by Burgundy vignerons after the exceptionally challenging and wet 2024 growing season. But persistent rain never made the difference to me that it made to all of them last year, and I was reminded of how humble and stoical vignerons need to be if they are to retain their sanity; they have to care deeply, to make every effort, almost every day, for months... and yet if Mother Nature doesn’t smile on them—and in 2024, she seemed to spit on them—they need somehow to accept it. I imagine that in 2024 that must have been especially hard for Ludivine Griveau, régisseur of the Domaine des Hospices de Beaune since the 2015 vintage—not only because of the charitable dimension and the extent of the domaine (140 plots across 60ha [150 acres], from Chablis, to the Mâconnais), and therefore the weight of the responsibility, but also because after three years of being in conversion, this was the first vintage when its wines would be certified organic. But despite this cruel irony (Mother Nature seeming to sneer, as well as spit), Griveau managed to rise above it, writing in her candid, insightful, and philosophical annual report, “Because this vintage is unlike any other, because it will remain (for a long time) etched in our memories as winemakers, and finally, because it has given us the opportunity to measure just how fragile our knowledge, not to mention our certainties, can be, it truly deserves the term ‘experimental’ […] As we navigated our path toward organic
20 | THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 87 | 2025
certification, this vintage pushed us into a journey that was undoubtedly unpredictable but, in hindsight, exhilarating. Robustness, tenacity, and mobilization have formed the foundation of this extraordinary experience; much like in a hospital, we had to coexist with the pressure of adversity […] The multiple episodes of harvest loss in 2024 leave no room for regret: We did everything we could in time, without human or technical errors, with unwavering commitment… Sometimes we must deconstruct a model of knowledge we thought perfect to rebuild everything for the future… like an experiment.” The following account draws on
Griveau’s report, as well as that of Jeannie Cho Lee MW, the specialist wine consultant to Sotheby’s, auction partner of the Hospices de Beaune since 2021; and that of the Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne (BIVB).
Abnormal again the new normal The BIVB’s 2023 harvest report emphasized that “Year after year, the exceptional is becoming the norm.” This also applied fully to 2024, summarized by the BIVB thus: “In Bourgogne, in common with much of France, this year was characterized by unusual weather, with rainfall far above average, though unevenly distributed. Added to this, there were episodes of frost and hail—localized but severe. These conditions created greater pressure from disease, requiring immense efforts throughout the growing season to protect the crop. Harvesting was later than in recent years, concluding at the end of September. Although the potential harvest quantity was reduced, the maturity level of the
harvested grapes, combined with the expertise of the winemakers, heralds a quality vintage.”
Looking at the growing season in a little more detail, the 2023/24 winter was mild and wet, with average temperatures higher than usual (+1.9°C [3.4°F]) for the third consecutive year, while rainfall from October to March reached 671mm (26.4in), nearly twice the normal level (362mm [14.3in]). February was especially mild (+3.6°C [6.5°F] on average), but so, too, was the second half of March (+2.7°C [4.9°F] on average), which brought about an early budbreak—as early as March 22, but mostly over the warm Easter weekend of March 30–31. The early start to the season—at this stage ten days ahead of the 20-year norm—continued into April, which made all the more damaging the frosts that gripped some vineyards in Chablis, the southern Côte de Beaune, and the Côte Chalonnaise when temperatures tumbled—the first of several episodes that would eventually greatly reduce yields. The second was the devastating hail that struck on May 1, affecting some 2,000ha (4,950 acres) and hitting Chablis hardest, leading to losses ranging from 60% to 100%, including grand and premier cru climats. Hail remained a scourge throughout the season, all the way through to early August, storms striking not only Chablis but also the Côte d’Or and the Mâconnais. Even in areas not affected by hail, the rain was unrelenting, with 550mm (21.7in) from January to May, against an average of 220mm (8.7in), and only 528 hours of sunshine compared to the usual 706. Griveau laments that it had been the fourth-wettest spring since 1959: “Boots and rain gear proved worthwhile!”
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