Morning in NSG and reflecting on the future 2026 vintage … the very extreme 2026 vintage. Harvest was earlier than seen ever before, alcohol levels dramatically higher than anyone has seen in recent decades.

This is a special vintage … and the Beaune marketers will choose the words very carefully when this is sold … the alcohol part is a no-go in marketing these days.

The vintage is what the vintage is, and if you find any ripe grand crus or 1er crus at 12,5% then I would suggest that you check the source … this is not what people were harvesting in the Burgundian vineyards.

And yes, it will be a struggle to sell the regular Burgundies with these alcohol percentages – in a market already cutting down on wine and the use of alcohol.

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Wine is life, emotions, and energy … it should be a true passion … and without true and strong passion, no great emotional wines are made. And luckily most good vignerons have this strong passion … and they play the vintage with the cards dealt by Dionysus.

So yes, we will have our Vin d’émotion in 2026 … you just need to listen or read a bit more to find the vignerons and the terroirs that did well. This story is being written in the vineyards as we speak!

At the moment, vignerons are a bit shaken (Larry Holmes vs Tyson), but they will make good wines, and they will sell them to go with the most suitable food. You don’t serve turbot with a 16% red pinot anyhow … so adaptive use is important with the 2026s.

The serving temperature will be very important in my view … cool wines for cool people.

On a positive note, they seem to have a good feeling about the aromatic profile of the wines despite the alcohol levels – they will no doubt be rich and ripe… and if both Dionysus and Bacchus are with us, the finished wine will maintain this generous and lush feel. It has a warm and quite delicate complexity … hope this will show in the bottle.

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Rich but very fine aromatics – the Winehog view

The aromatics are lovely in many cuvees … this is the benefit of the small but very healthy grapes … many wines are currently giving a lush and quite complex pleasure … In a strange way, their taste and expression are very good even with these elevated alcohol levels.

It is, however, very important to notice that it is very difficult to taste the unfinished wines … so let’s stay optimistic regarding the aromatics – and not comment too much on the aromatic side at this stage.

The extreme 2026 vintage is new territory in Burgundy … no one really knows what happens when a Burgundy wine reaches 17% … and to be honest, most of us don’t want to know.

Let’s face it, I – the Winehog – don´t really like high alcohol wines … but I also know that we adapt to a certain degree by matching the right food to the 2026s … and some beautiful matches will be found, I am sure – “for sure!!”.

I like 12,5% to 13,5% in my ideal world, but this is beside the point … the answer will be in the bottle and in your glass.

I like it cool but ripe … not borderline overripe… but just in the sweet spot on the cooler side – “frais et léger,” and I don’t want to focus on the degrees … the answer is in your glass.

Some terroirs handle the hot years much better than others … Corton-Charlemagne used to shine in the rich years … let’s see if they do the magic with 15% in 2026.

The same applies to the vignerons – some just adapt better to the hot years.

The high alcohol – I say this again!

No reason to beat around the bush… the alcohol levels are high, and currently it is unusual to harvest below 14% in the big appellations… and levels around 14 to 15% are normal at this stage of the harvest of 2026 … and they will climb even higher if the vignerons wait too long.

They are big wines … and alcohol levels beyond 17% have been seen !!!! … and above 14% is normal and should be accepted as a part of the 2026 characteristics.

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Harvest window?

We are talking August 23rd, and dreaming about a harvest at the start of September and reasonable alcohol seems quite unrealistic. More and more are speaking about a further drop in acidity and a rise in the PH values – an indication of more unstable and heavy wines.

This is soon becoming a simple struggle of just getting the wines in the cellar before it’s really too late. So the next week (August 24th to August 30th) is really the last harvest window, unless your vineyards get a spell of this elusive and magical rain!

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Harvest activity

Quite a lot of prominent estates are in the vineyards picking … names like Meo-Camuzet, Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair, Dujac, Rousseau, and DRC are now harvesting.

Think it will be pedal to the metal … to avoid using the ink to print 16% on the label.

The Winehog will be here today and in the days to come … we are here as long as I get your support! So please subscribe!

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Harvest time … Forecast

Forecast date	Harvest Côte de Beaune	Harvest Côte de Nuits
May 18th	August 15th	August 22th
June 20th	August 15th	August 22th
July 5th	August 15th	August 22th
August 7th	August 12th	August 18th
August 9th	August 7th	August 9th – early start small plots
2025 Harvest Final	August 17th	August 27th

Weather – forecast

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Harvest articles

• Harvest 2026 – and vin d’émotion
• Harvest 2026 – in the mood
• Harvest 2026 – lacking pickers
• Harvest 2026 – the alcohol in the room
• Harvest 2026 – avanti … Avanti!!
• Harvest 2026 – a fair bit of rain!
• Harvest 2026 – here we go … but no rain
• Harvest 2026 – Burgundy is now in harvest mode
• Harvest 2026 – possible panic is lurking
• Harvest 2026 – Friends, free and Fee
• Harvest 2026 – preparing for harvest next week
• Harvest 2026 – preparing the start
• Harvest 2026 – the harvest unfolds
• Harvest 2026 – has started
• Harvest 2026 – less than two weeks to the start

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Send me an email – if you have some harvest news

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