The 2019 harvests well on their way across Bourgogne
After some very hot and sunny weather in June and July, with temperatures up by 2.8°C on average compared to seasonal norms, August was more “normal”, up by just 0.7°C. The only downside was a lack of rainfall that has been going on since the beginning of the year, along with frost damage in the Mâconnais, and widespread millerandage plus shatter that will have an impact on harvest yields.
However, the few showers that occurred over the summer triggered véraison in mid-August and the grapes continued to ripen at a steady pace. The first harvests of grapes for making Crémant de Bourgogne began on 31 August in the southern part of the Bourgogne winegrowing region.
Picking for still wines began during the first week of September, from the Mâconnais to the Côte de Beaune. The Côte de Nuits, Chablis and the Grand Auxerrois began a little later, between 13-15 September. The Hautes Côtes, always a little later, will be picked during the second half of September, or even early October.
François Labet, President of BIVB and winegrower in Vougeot, described this year’s harvest as a “W” shape. “I mean that we are going from one plot to the next, from north to south and from south to north. There is nothing usual about it at all!” Indeed, the ripeness of the plots varies according to whether they had rain or not.
Although the harvest looks like it may be less generous than normal in terms of yields – in particular in the Mâconnais, which was hit by springtime frost and shatter, and the north of the region, with very little rain in Chablis since the end of June - the quality of the grapes suggests a very fine vintage. The perpetual challenge is to pick the grapes at the point when ripeness, sugar, and acidity are ideally balanced.
Years that end in a nine are historically very good vintages for Bourgogne wines… so confidence is high.
To find out more, join us at the Fall Press Conference in Beaune.
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The 2019 Cave de Prestige: Showcasing the excellence of Bourgogne wines
This year sees a particularly rigorous, high-quality selection.
A showcase for Bourgogne wines and an essential tool for the Bourgogne Wines Board (BIVB), the 2019 Cave de Prestige was revealed at the end of June.
During the event to announce the selection, François Labet, President of the BIVB, hailed the exceptional quality of the 190 wines. These cuvées, judged to be representative of their respective appellations, will represent Bourgogne throughout the year at promotional industry and training events, in France and around the world.
• A rigorous selection
For practical reasons, the BIVB opted to tighten up the selection as much as possible. As such, the 2019 edition was one of the most rigorous for the past 30 years, with just 12% of submissions selected, resulting in 190 wines from 1,598 submissions. Almost all the 84 appellations of Bourgogne are represented, from Régionale AOCs to Grand Crus. Régionale wines with a geographical denomination from Bourgogne and Mâcon are well-represented, in line with the BIVB’s current strategy.
The judges faced quite a challenge as the quality of the 2017 vintage (66% of submissions) was very high. All wines selected scored 16/20 or higher, and then went before a super jury
A new face to head up the Cité des vins et des Climats de Bourgogne
New Director, Olivier Le Roy, joins the project just before the end of a key stage for the cité in Beaune. Soon, 3 construction sites will be up and running.
As summer draws to a close, the Cité des vins et des Climats de Bourgogne project is revving up, driven in part by the arrival of its new director Olivier Le Roy. As head of the Association Cité des vins et des Climats de Bourgogne, created at the start of the summer, it will be his responsibility to manage the development of the Cité network, starting with the construction phases.
The cité in Beaune is soon to make a critical decision with the appointment of its future constructor/architect/scenographer, whose name will be revealed in November.
The cité in Beaune is being developed in conjunction with Beaune City Hall, and will be built on a site close to the Palais des Congrès, on around 4,000 m². It will be part of a bigger project covering some 10 hectares, alongside other major developments such as a hotel, restaurants, and retail outlets.
The construction of the cités in Mâcon and Chablis will begin in early 2020.
The Bourgogne Wines Board (BIVB) is delighted to announce the release of a second film exploring harvesting and vinification. This follows on from the success of the first chapter in this series about work in the vines. This report is both educational and poetic, highlighting the expertise and skill of those who make Bourgogne wine.
Each episode of the interactive “Rendezvous with Bourgogne Wines” show brings together hundreds of industry professionals, journalists, influencers, and wine lovers from around the world.
The next edition, to be screened on 13 November, will be dedicated to the Beaune AOC. This Village appellation, in both red and white, is much less well-known than the city from which it takes its name. And yet, like the other lesser-known Bourgogne AOCs, it offers a very good quality-price-pleasure ratio and deserves a closer look. And what better moment to do that than on the eve of the celebrated Hospices de Beaune Wine Auction?
The show lasts for one hour. The first 20 minutes are dedicated to reports and interviews with winegrowers. The second part features a guided tasting of several wines that participants at the corresponding events organized around the world can sample simultaneously with Jean-Pierre Renard, expert trainer at the École des Vins de Bourgogne. At the end of the show, Jean-Pierre will answer questions asked by participants via Twitter with the #BIVBRDV hashtag.
The show is broadcast via satellite to 10 countries, in English at 9am, 11am, 6pm, and 10pm, and in French at 4pm. All times are local to France.
Sparkling Bourgogne wine made its first literary appearance in 1830, via the plume of Alfred de Musset, who celebrated it in his “Secrètes pensées de Raphaël”, and from the early 19th century was being produced in Chablis, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Rully, and Tonnerre.
The Crémant de Bourgogne AOC was created in 1975, in recognition of rigorous production conditions, traditional expertise, and high-quality vinification. The area of production covers the entire Bourgogne winegrowing region.
• Did you know?
This wine can be produced in white (blanc de blancs or blanc de noirs) and rosé. The best bottles are produced as vintage wines and are classified as Eminent or Grand Eminent, new classifications for the AOC which were introduced two years ago and have the most stringent production requirements. They are only now arriving on the market because they have to be aged on laths for a minimum of 24 months for Crémant de Bourgogne Eminent and 36 months for Crémant de Bourgogne Grand Eminent. It’s all a matter of taste - lovers of lightly sparkling wines tend to prefer their Crémant de Bourgogne brut or extra-brut. But those who like a sweeter tipple may be charmed by the very few demi-sec options available.
• All the characteristics of a Bourgogne wine
For Grégory Georger, owner of Parigot & Richard, the words that make up this appellation are significant:
“The word ‘Crémant’, which guarantees the production process, and the word ‘Bourgogne”, which is also very important because lovers of Bourgogne wines know that they will find all the characteristics of a Bourgogne wine, namely sophistication, elegance, and authenticity.”
Almost 50 ancient grape varietals, such as Caesar, Sacy, Melon, and Gascon, have been planted on a plot at Mont-Battois, near Beaune. This initiative, from the Groupement d’Etude et de Suivi des Terroirs (GEST), a group for studying and monitoring the terroir, which is supported by the Bourgogne Wines Board (BIVB), has a dual objective. Firstly, it seeks to preserve these grape varieties once grown in Bourgogne. Some are still cultivated but in very small quantities. Secondly, it wants to study them and evaluate their unique characteristics, both agronomic and organoleptic, in order to compare them to the grape varietals currently grown in the region.
“We will be closely monitoring their resistance to disease and drought. By comparing them with the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir varietals, we will be able to study their potential for the future,” said Jean-Claude Rateau, the Beaune winemaker who is overseeing the establishment of the conservatory. This project is not seeking to replace the emblematic Bourgogne grape varietals in the immediate future, rather to offer winemakers of the future the resources to adapt.
The 1.5°C increase in temperature that has been observed since the mid-20th century has not been without consequences for Bourgogne, especially with regard to the vines’ growth cycle. While its effects are generally positive for now, climate change is threatening more significant changes in the future, such as excessively high levels of alcohol, lower acidity, and a greater threat from frost damage as the vegetative cycle begins earlier because of milder and shorter winters.
The ancient grape varieties studied by the GEST, mainly provided by the Domaine de Vassal (INRA), may throw up some answers to these questions and could be used to complement traditional varietals as the climate changes. “We are trying to avoid being caught off guard,” said Thibault Liger-Belair, winemaker in Nuits-Saint-Georges and president of the GEST, "But there is absolutely no question of changing Bourgogne wines!” he insists.
Clos de Vougeot: Tastings at long last!
These highly-anticipated tastings involve three options for visitors to the celebrated Bourgogne chateau.
Since July, a three-tiered tasting program has been on offer at the Clos de Vougeot in addition to the classic guided tour. Each option covers one aspect of Bourgogne, from Régionale appellations to Grand Crus.
This is an historic event because until now, the Chevaliers du Tastevin who manage this historic monument did not want to lose their impartiality by having to “select” wines for tasting, given that they do not produce any themselves.
But now, they have decided to offer wines from the Tastevinage range that have been selected by the brotherhood every year for more than a half-century.
November 2019: How to “Explain and interpret vines and wines”
This is the question posed by a colloquium hosted by the Association des Climats du Vignoble de Bourgogne at the end of November.
Bringing together the different perspectives of scientists and academics with experts from the worlds of culture and wine tourism, this symposium will explore a key question as the Cité des vins et des Climats de Bourgogne announces it will open in summer 2021: How best to explain and interpret wine culture?
The symposium will be held in Beaune on 28 and 29 November, and will explore this issue through a series of roundtable discussions, with guests including Fabrizio Bucella (author, sommelier, doctor of science and professor at University of Brussels) and Isabelle Anatole-Gabriel (doctor of heritage history).
A unique event in Bourgogne, it will also be an opportunityto discuss some major local projects, such as the Cité des vins et des Climats de Bourgogne network.
Join us for the 71st Fête des Vins de Chablis
This fall, take some time out to come celebrate the new vintage.
Since its first edition in 1949, the Fête des Vins de Chablis has evolved a great deal, but its success has always been based on a single notion - that of conviviality!
On 26 and 27 October, the town center of Chablis will once again be hosting a wide range of events involving the wines of Chablis and the Grand Auxerrois. This festival is organized by the Chablis Tourist Office in partnership with the Bourgogne Wines Board (BIVB).
Admission to the Fête des Vins de Chablis is free and a tasting glass costs €6.
In 2017, 4,000 visitors participated in the event, which this year will be celebrating its 71th anniversary.
Comprising winemakers, brokers, restaurateurs, sommeliers, representatives of cooperative wineries, presidents of wine unions, partners in the wine industry, and journalists, an elite jury of 228 members gathered in the Grand Cellier of the Château du Clos de Vougeot for this important blind wine tasting.
The wines presented hailed from vineyards from Chablis to the Mâconnais, from Régionale appellations to Grand Crus, with both still wines and Crémant de Bourgogne.
The selection process for wines chosen to sport the Tastevinage label is very exacting and the percentage of wines chosen bears witness to this rigor. Of all the wines tasted, only 172 were awarded the Tastevinage label: 90 reds, 82 whites, and 29 Crémant de Bourgognes, just 33% of the wines submitted.
October will see doors opening in Auxey-Duresses
Every year, on the fourth weekend in October, visitors are invited to take a privileged look at the wines of this lovely yet little-known appellation.
On 26 and 27 October, the winemakers of Auxey-Duresses and the neighboring hamlet of Melin invite you to their “Coup d’Œil, Coup de Cœur” event. Visitors can enjoy a moveable tasting through the village and discover or rediscover this appellation of Village and Premier Cru wines.
Tasting glasses cost €5 and visitors can taste wines of all producers sporting the “Coup d’Œil, Coup de Cœur” logo. There are many local farm products also available in the village throughout the weekend.
Tastings run from 10am to 6pm.
Vignerons and Maisons
A new boutique for the Cave de Lugny
This cooperative cellar is offering a new wine-tourism venue in the heart of the Mâconnais, “Au Pied des Charmes”.
In a tribute to the lieu-dit of Les Charmes, at the foot of which it sits, the new boutique at the Cave de Lugny is a modern and friendly space that opens directly onto the vineyards.
This new facility covers almost 300m2 and offers a sales and tasting area, and a reception and two seminar rooms for hosting groups, along with plenty of useful visitor information.
Maison Jean Loron: a new boutique and tasting space
La Maison Jean Loron is offering a different kind of visual and taste-related approach to its wines.
The Maison Jean Loron was established in 1711, and continues to evolve in order to better meet the demands of new consumers.
This new tasting space and boutique is part of a revised visual and gustatory approach, aimed at lovers of its Pinot Noir and unsulfured wines, along with the estate’s older vintages.
Thursday after-work events will run on 3 and 10 October, at 6pm.
The Maison Jean Loron is located in the south of Bourgogne and owns several estates covering 135 hectares of vines.
Bourgogne vs. Burgundy: to re-affirm their identity, the region and the producers are reverting back to the original French iteration of the name, Bourgogne.
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