Great optimism in Burgundy as 2018 vintage being hailed as one of greatest ever
Burgundy’s 2018 vintage is being hailed as one of the greatest ever, with producers comparing it to the renowned 1947 harvest and the Bureau Interprofessional des Vins de Bourgogne(BIVB) describing it as an “ideal” eyar.
It was a vintage marked by extremely hot weather, the hottest in Burgundy since 2003, as well as one of the driest, receiving only 55% of the annual average rainfall in the last 30 years.
Sunny weather in late August and the first two weeks of September meant that the picking took place over the space of nearly a month. Final volumes have yet to be confirmed, but this is the second large vintage in a row, making a welcome change after a series of small crops since 2009 which have been largely afflicted by hail and frost.
“Overall it is concentration, colour and marked levels of alcohol that will almost certainly define the style of the 2018s, especially the reds,” said Tim Atkin, MW, writing in Decanter.
Many growers picked their Grands Crus at 14% or more, 15% was not unheard of and one laboratory analysed a Bonnes Mares at 16.3%. Acidification is generally looked down upon in Burgundy, but was widely practised this year.
‘”It was very, complicated,’ said négociant Mark Haisma, ‘and especially difficult to retain freshness and balance in the wines.”