White Burgundy sweet style … climate changes!

Recently I have had some white Burgundies with very high alcohol, sweet with notes of botrytis and a low acidity.

A white Burgundy should in my view be dry, and with alcohol below 14 and preferably even lower. A sweet style Burgundy with botrytis notes are in my view a faulty wine, and should be rated accordingly … with an average rating (or lower).

What is going on – sweet and high alcohol

The climate changes have increased the overall level of ripeness, thus making the sugar levels higher. In most years it’s not a problem to harvest ripe grapes, the problem is to pick the grapes while there still is a good balance between acidity and sugar.

A sweet style white Burgundy with 14,5% alcohol will normally be the result of over ripe grapes, and or Botrytis infected grapes. I really find it hard to understand why producers make these wines, and how they are able to overshoot the balance between sugar and acidity to that degree.

Possible explanations

Before you read the next claims, please note I really enjoy a lot of organic made wines, and favour the principles of organic farming.

One explanation of the sweet and alcoholic white Burgundies could be organic farming where botrytis infection in the vines can be hard to stop. This is in my view a HUGE problem, as Botrytis destroys the pure chardonney flavors and often give an extra sense of sweetness to the wine.

Another possible explanation is also related to organic farming. If the producer follow the lunar calender, thus delaying the harvest to follow the Lunar calendar, there is a higher probability for over ripeness.

The last factor could be the focus on phenolic maturity. In theory this is a good thing, as it ensures mature taninns, the risk is however that the producer while waiting for phenolic maturity is loosing acidity level and getting a high sugar level.

Solutions to the problem

First of all, not all wine drinkers and producers share my view. Some seem to like Botrytis in the white Burgundies, and judged by the ratings also sweet style, high alcohol, low acidity wines.

I prefer a fresh, crisp white Burgundy with a good minerality and acidity. They should be clean, transparant and without Botrytis.

But what could be done to ensure this in a world with rising temperatures. There is no easy answer, but I think the focus on low yields and focus on phenolic maturity are a part of the problem.

I think more weight should be put on maintaining a high natural acidity, while perhaps compromising on the phenolic maturity. This would decrease the sugar levels/alcohol, thus making more balanced wines.

I don’t know if there is a connection between the premox problems and the focus on phenolic maturity, but it’s clear vinification methods in some white Burgundies need to be adjusted to cope with the higher temperatures.