The wines have been tasted, the verdicts are in \u2013 so what are commentators saying about Burgundy 2024? The critics, as one might imagine, have a slightly different take to that of merchants\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ahead of this year\u2019s Burgundy En Primeur tastings in London, merchants were at pains to tell us how tough the vintage had been for growers. To be fair, they weren\u2019t exaggerating. The region as a whole suffered 50% more rainfall than usual between June and August in 2024, and nearly double the average across the 12 months from the previous October. \u2018In Burgundy, six days of dry and one day of rain is perfect,\u2019 said Gr\u00e9gory Gouges of the family domaine. \u2018In 2024, we had the reverse.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Warmth alongside the wet\u00a0further raised the risk of mildew \u2013\u00a0\u2018the defining challenge of the vintage\u2019, as David Porter of Lea & Sandeman said, with Pinot Noir especially affected, particularly in the more rarefied C\u00f4te de Nuits.\u00a0Flowering in cool, damp conditions immediately reduced potential yields; this on top of\u00a0the frost and hail that beseiged Chablis.\u00a0It was, said\u00a0J\u00e9r\u00f4me Flous, technical director of Faiveley, the most challenging vintage in his 17 years at the domaine.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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‘Importers are working hard to promote this lean vintage as elegant. Don\u2019t be hoodwinked’<\/p>SARAH MARSH MW<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The upshot was a vintage with around 40% less white wine, and an 80% drop in C\u00f4te de Nuits reds. The larger question, though, was around quality \u2013 a topic that most merchants danced around as elegantly as any ballerina . \u2018These are not powerful Pinots, but they are beautifully Pinot in character – light on their feet, translucent and refined, modest alcohols and finely etched, unobtrusive tannins,\u2019 wrote Justerini & Brooks\u2019 always-eloquent buying director Julian Campbell. Ultimately, though, he conceded, \u2018honesty requires acknowledging that 2024 is unlikely to evolve into one of the true greats [for reds]. But expect pleasure.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Some of the critics also found pleasure \u2013 up to a point. Neal Martin of Vinous delighted in \u2018wines that resolutely reside in the red side of the fruit spectrum, where Pinot Noir reaches its apogee. Strawberry, cranberry, redcurrants, pomegranate and red cherries\u2026how often did I type those aromas and flavours?\u2019 Jasper Morris MW took a similar stance on insideburgundy.com. \u2018If you like dark-coloured, powerful wines, full of fruit, and are comfortable about 14% alcohol levels or above, then there is nothing here for you. If you prefer lighter, perfumed wines then there certainly should be!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\nJasper Morris MW, seen here at a Burgundy BYOB dinner he hosted at the London Club during En Primeur week, maintained that there were plenty of 2024 reds to please lovers of ‘lighter, perfumed wines’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
It was left to Sarah Marsh MW to be perhaps the most candid, in World of Fine Wine. \u2018The producers and their importers are working hard to promote this lean vintage as elegant,\u2019 she observed. \u2018Don\u2019t be hoodwinked. The facts remain \u2013 the wines are low in matter and intensity and have limited ageing potential.\u2019 The reds, she said, were the most inconsistent. 2024 C\u00f4te de Beaune represented a \u2018pleasant, mid-range vintage for early drinking\u2019 by way of wines that were \u2018forward and fruity, clean and well-balanced\u2019. The more vaunted C\u00f4te de Nuits, by contrast, was \u2018a notch below in quality and consistency [with] even some good names resting on their laurels\u2019. Here there were \u2018too many decidedly average wines,\u2019 Marsh lamented, ultimately rating the vintage as \u2018below average\u2019 for reds; \u2018a poorer vintage for this day and age, and certainly in the context of the past decade\u2019. All in all, her advice to those thinking of dabbling in 2024 reds En Primeur, was to \u2018be prudent \u2013 and don\u2019t pay high prices.\u2019 Matthew Hayes on jancisrobinson.com was more definitive still, urging consumers to \u2018do their damnedest to pick up all that is left and affordable from 2022 and 2023, [which] will last longer and ultimately be better wines\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The whites, on the other hand, are a different story. \u2018They\u2019re good, indeed very good,\u2019 Marsh says. \u2018[They] have so many virtues. Excellent terroir expression\u2026 freshness and vibrancy\u2026 an exciting combo of citrus fruits and salty minerality\u2026 wines I can drink, not just taste. The straight, zesty style is such an appealing contrast to the solar richness, glycerol and tropical-fruit generosity of recent hot vintages.\u2019 She tempered this, though, by making allowances for other palates. \u2018I have to be careful not to overstate the quality. They are good. Very good. But not everybody\u2019s cup of tea. Not for those who favour a rich style of white Burgundy.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Veteran UK commentator Oz Clarke is seemingly not part of that camp, and, speaking to 67 Pall Mall, lauded the \u2018freshness and focus\u2019 of the whites in what is \u2018a seafood-and-Chablis vintage\u2019 (albeit with yields in Chablis between a third and a half of the norm). \u2018If you can\u2019t afford C\u00f4te de Beaune, C\u00f4te Chalonnaise is crying out for your attention,\u2019 he said, \u2018and there\u2019s no problem with climate change this year in the M\u00e2connais,\u2019 picking out Saint Veran as a star appellation: \u2018It\u2019s not the C\u00f4te de Beaune, but there\u2019s some very classy wines there, with great value and consistency.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/div>\n\n\n\nEn Primeur samples being drawn from the barrel at Faiveley, where technical director J\u00e9r\u00f4me Flous said 2024 was the most challenging vintage in his 17 years at the domaine \u2013 though there was no doubt that the whites stole the show (photo: Berry Bros & Rudd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Catherine Ja\u00ebn MW, buying director of Lay & Wheeler, went so far as to label 2024 \u2018the best vintage for Chardonnay in the past decade\u2019, heralding the whites as \u2018gorgeous \u2013 linear and elegant, with a beautifully light-footed complexity\u2019. They should drink well from youth, she added, \u2018and I\u2019ve no doubt they will age with grace\u2019. J&B\u2019s Campbell agreed, arguing that the 2024 whites merit a place alongside standout years such as 2014 and 2020, with \u2018several examples of genuine brilliance\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charles Curtis MW offered a more tempered perspective on decanter.com, describing the vintage as \u2018catastrophically small\u2019 but with \u2018bright spots that shine through \u2013 particularly among the whites [which have] firm acidity, wonderful balance and moderate alcohol\u2019. There was no denying, though, that it was generally \u2018a modest vintage for red wine, which could be light, thin and lacking concentration and fruit\u2019. Curtis agreed with Marsh that the C\u00f4te de Beaune fared better than the C\u00f4te de Nuits, arguing that the further south one ventures, the better the wines become. He was also aligned with Clarke in deeming 2024 \u2018a vintage where the C\u00f4te Chalonnaise and the M\u00e2connais really came into their own,\u2019 with the latter \u2018among the brightest spots\u2019 of the whole vintage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps the most succinct summary came from Matthew Jukes, who was his usual direct self. \u2018While village-level whites from the best estates looked great, premiers and grands crus are rarely worth trading up for, given that a larger initial burst of flavour in no way made up for a shorter, stubbier finish,\u2019 he wrote on his website. The reds are nicely perfumed, he added, \u2018but on the palate, they are invariably underpowered, reedy and lean\u2019. Ultimately, says Jukes, 2024 is \u2018a small vintage of quite expensive wines that will drink early and offer occasional accuracy and charm\u2019. And then the killer line: \u2018Honest winemakers will tell you they only came over to London so they could catch up with their regular customers, show face and do some shopping.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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