Hail, Hailstorms – 2025

Global warming has caused some dramatic changes in Burgundy, where the weather seems to get more and more unpredictable and even violent.

The hail episodes and storms over the past decade are most likely directly linked to global warming, as it appears there is an increase in hailstorm frequency and intensity correlated to the rising temperatures. The weather is changing rapidly!

Despite the installation of anti-hail cannons, often vignerons can only pray – hence the Hail Mary – and assess the damage afterwards.

Let’s take a closer look at the effects of hail.

Le Gout de Grele

Hail can damage the grapes and vines dramatically, and depending on the severity of the storm, one finds different results in the wines. Clearly, this also depends enormously on the amount of sorting done by the estate after the damage is done.

The basic effect on the wines of a hailstorm can be summarised as follows:

“Vineyards that have suffered badly from hail damage can produce wines that lose freshness and fruit in favour of acidity, and they can even take on bitterness on the palate. At worst, there is a somewhat mouldy note in taste and bouquet. Therefore, it is important to sort the grapes very thoroughly.”

The key questions are, therefore: How bad was the damage, and how thorough was the sorting?

Hail damage in 2025

The season is now starting, and this weekend we had the first stroke of hail in the Côte de Nuits region.

Not a huge hailstorm, but enough to set the first alerts about damage (mostly minor) … although it can be difficult to identify at this stage.

The effect of hail damage

I have tasted a range of hail-affected wines, and the effects range from relatively negligible to a loss of mid-palate fruit and moving up to full-blown bitterness and significant loss of fruit.

The worst cases are marked clearly, what one would call Goût de grêle – the taste of hail.

Many wines have, however, come from grapes that were properly sorted. Hence, there is significantly less impact on the fruit in the final vinification, and almost no perceptible deviation in the wine.

The different levels of damage

Some wines have a minor – yet noticeable – loss of fruit. It is not unpleasant, just more or less apparent. This is especially noticeable when tasted in a lineup with other wines from the estate that did not suffer hail damage.

In a rich vintage like 2018, hail-affected wines may still offer sufficient fruit, but they will often lack energy. They are very rarely – if ever – vins d’émotion.

Hail damage can potentially cause other imbalances or peculiarities in wine. For instance, thick-skinned millerandage grapes cope better with hail, and fermentation with mainly millerandage grapes can yield surprising alcohol levels if the grapes are ripe. This example is perhaps rather unusual, but it serves to show that the effects of hail are unpredictable, even with proper sorting.