2007 : THE YEAR OF THE PICKER?

We do not need to be reminded how good 2005 was, it is being called the greatest vintages in 50 years, nor do we need to be reminded that 2006 was certainly  (with the best growers) the "year of the vigneron"  and is a vintage that is deserving of serious attention.  Now there will be much said, and the most of it negative, about the 2007 vintage in Burgundy.

Having been in Burgundy from Monday evening August 27 to Saturday, September 1, and having picked Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning, the following would be my report.

April to early May was very warm, April being one of the warmest months on record and the vegetative cycle was greatly advanced.  Flowering began May 15 or about two and a half weeks to three weeks early.  About this time, however, it also started to rain and it rained regularly from the middle of May to the 1st of September.  Beside the obvious problem with extra moisture, this also prevented the growers from getting to the vines to apply the necessary treatments, especially those on a Monday to Friday schedule.  Bernard Dugat told me, for instance, that he recalled doing several of their treatments on Saturdays and Sundays because it seemed they were the only days dry enough to get in.

While this states the situation in general, the fact is that there was less rain in the Côtes de Nuits than in Côtes de Beaune.  Moreover, July and August were very cool so, particularly in the the Côtes de Nuits, there was not much "pourriture" until late August.

Bear in mind, also, that in late August it was 110 days after flowering, or 10 days more than the normal vegetative cycle.  Thus the grapes I picked were clearly at the end of the physiological cycle, easily popping off the cluster and the stems were turning brown.

It is a further fact that at Clos des Lambrays, for instance,  with its steep slope, different pickings of the Clos ranged from 12.4% alcohol natural to 12.9% alcohol natural with a ph of 3.24 to 3.25.  Virtually ideal.  I saw the lab analysis.

Moreover, I can say that Bernard Dugat's Vosne-Romanée Quartiers de Nuits and Cécile Tremblay's Vosne "Communes" and Bourgogne near Vosne were all virtually completely free of rot.

In sum, while it could have been another 1977,   with the best growers 2007 vintage will be  more akin to 2000, with the caveat that anyone who machine-harvested, almost every négociant, and anyone who did not have a good team of pickers, was in trouble.

Copyright 2007, Peter Weygandt

I was in Burgundy from Thursday afternoon, September 15, to Sunday morning, September 18.  The “ban” for the Cotes de Nuits was Wednesday, September 14 and for the Cotes de Beaune, Sunday September 11.  Harvesting had started when I arrived.  On Thursday I picked with Bernard Dugat for 3 hours.  On Friday, I started with Passetoutgrains at Jacky Truchot, then briefly at Domaine Bertagna and then the afternoon with Cecile Tremblay’s team.  All day Saturday I picked with Jacky Truchot’s  team, 2005 being Jacky’s last vintage and harvesting there with him being the main point for my trip.    

First, I will relate a bit on the weather, the following being gathered, and confirmed, from several growers.  The summer was very dry;  drier, in fact, than 2003, but much less hot.  On September 1 (probably 2 weeks later than optimum timing), they got a little rain—17mm (that is 11/16 “).  Then two days later there were 6 mm.  The following week there was a 7mm shower and (I think) on Tuesday the 13th there was 3mm.  The temperature was moderate (23 -24 degrees C.), with southerly breezes.  On Friday evening, the 16th, it showered another 3 mm.  The wind switched completely, to be from the north, and the temperatures dropped noticeably—we started picking Saturday morning at 7:30 with the temperature at 8 degrees C., and dry grapes, the wind was so strong.

The fruit, in parcels where I picked, all came in between 12 % natural sugar for the Bourgogne, and 13 percent for the Grand Crus.  The grapes were in beautiful condition—generally small clusters, with distinctly smaller than normal berries, and excellent dark color.  There was little or no pourriture, and the peduncle (where the cluster attaches to the stalk) had turned brown and hardened—the grapes were fully mature and sugars were not going to increase further.

Everyone was in good morale and there was a sense of quiet optimism pervading all of Burgundy.   I understand that the weather has been beautiful since I left, and the harvest is now complete for most everyone.

                                                                                      Peter Weygandt

                                                                                                  September 23, 2005

 Report – Australia 2002

I spent the week of May 27^th in South Australia visiting growers and tasting extensively in the McLaren Vale, Barossa and Clare Valley. For these regions 2002 was an enormous success, though the causative factors were rather atypical. Normally a great year (’98) comes from ideal growing conditions. Vintage 2002, on the contrary, was a sum of exceptions that made for greatness. First, flowering occurred at the coolest temperatures and grayest skies that anyone could remember so the fruit set was quite small. The coolness continued virtually the whole summer, though under clear, sunny weather. Everyone was quite worried about ripeness, but nature did not throw any nasty curves – the weather remained beautiful all the way through May. Thus the grapes ripened slowly, perfect physiological maturity with excellent natural ripeness, but no over-ripe or "baked" qualities showing. Without exception, all of our producers have made sensational wines in 2002. It would be hard to single any one out though Maxwell, Liebich and Whistler immediately come to mind, and Kilikanoon requires more detailed reporting. Kevin Mitchell, while a great winemaker, had always been struggling a bit financially. In the beginning of 2002 he was approached by investors with some excellent holdings in S.A. They struck a deal just in time for harvest and Kevin had great materials with which to work. There will be great fruit going into the Prodigal, the Blocks Road Cabernet and the Oracle. To say these wines are promising is an understatement, indeed, and there will be some new items as well, including a Barossa Shiraz that may well be in the league with Run Rig and Hanisch.

I spent ten well-filled days tasting and eating my way through the better part of France from July 4^th through the 14^th. The expedition began in Sancerre, where, as those of you who have tasted the Reverdy Les Coutes 2001 have found out, 2001 in certain cases, is quite excellent in the Loire. If the press could distinguish in its ratings of vintages between growers who harvest by hand (as all our growers do in Sancerre and Pouilly), there should be two scores, especially in a vintage like 2001. Not only are Nicolas Reverdy’s wines exceptional (the VV is really fine), so of course are Vatan’s, and for those of you who have not tried them yet, 2001 is a good time to discover Pierre Morin’s gems. His 2000 Ovide (unfiltered) is profound, and for 2001 the VV cuvee is right up there with Reverdy.

From there I directly descended to the Languedoc where some prospecting at several places turned up one domaine that will make the team, so to speak. Young Sebastien Fabrie (maybe 25) has taken over the family domaine and in ’01 has made a great value Minervois, rich in flavor and surprises with its length, all for around $11-12 aprox. retail (depending on how low our dollar falls ; now down 13% in two months). The domaine is called Tour Trencavel, in the village of Trausses, the heart of the Minervois.

Also, I can say without hesitation that Guilhem Durand’s 2001s are equal to or superior to the 2000s. The Syrah Vieilles Vignes, especially, is amazing. There will be a Chardonnay offered by Guilhem in 2001 that is, as to be expected, excellent ; partial barrel-fermented, malo partially blocked, lies remises.

Another standout is Domaine Foulaquier. You all know about the 2000 Rollier by now, but there will be one even better—their top cuvee, Les Calades 2000, just released. The 2001 l’Orphee (90 pts. in ’99) is promising again, too. For the growers in the Languedoc whom we know, 2001 was an exceptional vintage. Same goes for Costieres de Nimes, where Collards made not only a great Rose in ’01 (sold out), but their best Terre d’Argence rouge and Galets Rouges, ever.

In the southern Rhone, the key issue for 2001 was timing of harvest. The sugars got very high, very early, and ordinary growers picked early, but that was a mistake. One had to wait for physiological and phenolic maturity, and those who waited the longest (i.e. our growers !) made great 2001s. Those that really stand out include, Charvin, Bravay (Dom. Ferrand), Gradassi (Calice de St. Pierre), Boulle (Aphillanthes), Besnardeau (Grand Bois ; there will be 3000 cs of the CdR), and Yves Cheron (Roucas de St. Pierre). I would say, too, that the 2000 vintage is every bit as good as the press has claimed, now that it is in bottle—will be fun to compare the two vintages in ten years.

A stop in Cornas showed that this region had more in common with the southern Rhone in 2001 than the north—big, ripe (over 13% natural), and yet very-well balanced, they are probably even better than the great ‘99s at Durand.

Cote-Rotie is again very good in ’01, like ’00, all depending on yields. I did find a new producer whom we will introduce with his ’01 vintage this winter.

The big news in Beaujolais is that Chermettes have acquired a parcel of Moulin-a-Vent, called « La Rochelle ». For those of you with access to Hugh Johnson’s map, you will see that it is one of the best sites in Moulin-a-Vent.

From Georges Descombes (confirmed, no relation to Jean of DuBoeuf ), the Morgons are super in ’01 ; not only VV, which was so great in 2000 and is almost sold-out, but a new cuvee I selected, named Manon after his adorable daughter, all tank aged and bottled unfiltered, no sulfites.

Great is almost inadequate to describe what Christophe Cordier has done in 2001. In my opinion, these are his greatest wines ever—lower yields and better balance even than his great 2000s. We will also be adding another producer in P-F/Macon, Pascal Rollet, whose wines are nearly as good as Cordier, and at very interesting price points.

The surprise of the Cote d’Or, for me, was the quality of Bruno Desaunay’s 2000s. In general 2000 is a vintage close in style to ’97 (though with better acidity), but for Desaunay, I think his 2000s are even better than his superb ‘99s. The Vosne VV, the 1er cru Les Rouges, and the Echezeaux are near perfection in Pinot. The 2000s at Lambrays are also excellent—ripe, round, and lush. Their 2001s are unquestionably the greatest vintage yet (saying something after Lambray’s great ’99). We loved Jacky Truchot’s 2001s especially Morey Ruchot, Gevrey Combottes, and the Grand Crus. For Bernard Dugat, 2000 is the vintage for the Coeur de Roy cuvee—the most successful ever for that. As for 2001, Bernard proves that with ridiculously low yields, he can make ridiculously great wines in practically any vintage.

In whites, Remi Jobard has had his greatest success to date in ’01, and Raymond Dupont-Fahn (at age 23) is doing some very promising things, especially with a mis-appelled parcel of Bourgogne that he has made into nearly 1er cru quality. More on that story later.

Clearly vintage generalizations are becoming less meaningful as growers get better—lower yields, more green-harvesting, better canopy management and better understanding of the maturation process, put the serious grower (especially he who does the work himself like almost all of our growers) in a position to confidently challenge mother nature each autumn. I tasted a lot of great wines on this trip.