a intial 2025 note

I am now starting to taste the 2025 vintage in both reds and whites. It is always a good time when the focus shifts and the whole framework is revived. So I am excited!

And let me just say … the 2025 reds look truly wonderful with plenty of fruit and a delightful freshness. So far, so good… as we start the tastings, we will most likely find even more lovely qualities in the reds… and most likely also some weak points, as the year and the harvest itself were far from a walk in the park.

Dilution is one of the points I will look at, as is the timing of the harvest in relation to the heat wave and the phenolic ripeness … this is indeed complex.

The whites seem more mixed and not as glorious as the 2024 whites … but let’s see what we uncover … this is the charm of Burgundy.

The heatwave

The canicule … or heat wave … just before harvest could well be the factor that shaped the 2025 vintage … for better and for worse.

---

The heat wave gave an atypical ripening process, with the alcohol not rising dramatically during the heat … and apparently the ripening in general was also somewhat blocked partly during the heat wave.

The reds have an unusual combination of coolish ripeness, mature phenolics and a relatively low alcohol. The coolish fruit most likely stems from the canicule just before the harvest … that blocked the development of phenolic ripeness and the rise in alcohol level.

Just in time, temperatures dropped, and the harvest of the reds was done with a good ripeness before the rain kicked in seriously on September 8th

Dilution was inevitable, but how serious is it?… It’s difficult to judge before tasting more.

The Phenolics

Looking at the berries, the pips were quite often not fully ripe (still green in colour or partly green). It is early to say what consequences this will have, but when growers complain about less than perfect phenolic ripeness … and then pick the grapes very quickly – then perhaps the phenolics are not completely ripe …?

You need to login as a Premium subscriber to read the rest of this article. If you are not a Premium Subscriber, use the subscribe function and sign-up.