Burgundy 2010 vintage

Following the more powerful 2009 vintage, the 2010 vintage in Burgundy created wines of superb balance, concentration, structure and freshness across the region. We believe that they are impressive wines and many have great potential for long cellaring, even more so than the 2009s.

The growing season was not exactly ideal. Throughout the whole of Burgundy they suffered from an incredibly cold winter with temperatures in Vosne Romanée in particular plummeting to -20°C during the night of 19^th December 2009. For some producers this was devastating as the sap within some vines froze. At Mugneret-Gibourg they lost 1 hectare of vines to frost!

There was also some rain and frost in the spring, which caused millerandage and disrupted flowering in many areas. Most producers are at least 30% down on the average quantity produced. Following on from this the summer was not ideal either with rain in July and August. With the reduced flowering and this rainy weather, selection was imperative at harvest.

Despite all the setbacks most of our producers describe their wines as more ‘classic’ than the 2009 vintage; more restrained wines with finesse and freshness. Indeed for Claude from Chandon de Briailles, as well as many other producers, it was one of her favourite vintages in the last decade.

Although quantities are down, the quality was maintained thanks to green harvesting and manual selection at harvest. The berries that were left were super concentrated and of a very high quality.

Our offer will be coming out in January and we look forward to sharing our findings in full.

Written by Claire Scott-Gall