A troubled year – 2021

Burgundy has been troubled in 2021, and with the harvest starting now or shortly and accelerating in the weeks to come, what can we expect?

The frost on April 5 set the scene for this troubled year. The Côte de Beaune was very badly hit, and some areas in Côte de Nuits also suffered damage and loss of yield.

The summer has not been generous with sun and warmth, and cooler temperatures, coupled with frequent rain and showers, have given mildiou and oïdium the opportunity to create additional damage – or should I say they have already created a lot of damage, leading to further crop loss.

Some have mastered the oïdium challenge; others clearly not. The overall result is not good, with some of the worst oïdium years being mentioned as a reference. Some older vignerons talk of 1977, others are luckily too young to recall. We’ll see!

The weather is currently quite beautiful, but there is a risk of rain in the days and weeks to come which could increase the spread of oïdium and truly spell disaster. So let’s hope for the sun to continue.

In the best outcome, we will have a charming, but most likely somewhat lesser, year – and this would be lovely. In the worst case, many of the wines will be badly hit by oïdium and the yields consequently very low.