Taste and select

Most producers in Burgundy make several wines, often more than 10, some more than 30 different cuvees and some even more than 100 wines in their Burgundian factories.

With global warming, the demands on harvest timing have increased dramatically, and more and more wines suffer the consequences of wrong harvest timing … either unripe or overripe.

The fact is that the producers simply can’t ensure perfect timing for each cuvee, if they have too many wines to pick.

Sometimes the consequences are quite severe already, and in my view between 30 – 50% of the whites suffer from ill-timed harvest … i.e. tasting overripe or underripe to a degree that it disturbs the tasting experience… and even worse, the pleasure of the wine.

Solutions

Ideally, the harvest should in theory be done in 4-6 days (depending on the geografical spread) if the producer values optimal timing … look at Domaine Leflaive … and some of the frontrunners who understand the value of having large teams in place at the right time.

2026 was the ultimate challenge… and given the fact that harvest was extremely early, I think the Burgundians did quite well. But the wine in the glass could well show differently, especially with the whites. The combination of overripeness and 15% alcohol + added acidity to compensate for the imbalance is not something I am looking forward to tasting.

So manning up the harvest teams is a part of the needed improvements that will ensure a better timing of the harvest … more people and potentially more teams working side by side to ensure a very swift harvest.

Cellars should have a larger capacity to receive the grapes without delay … harvest is earlier (early August) and is typically done at a higher temperature than before …. and in non-cooled storage, grapes degrade very fast these days.

Reduce the number of wines

The easy solution would be to reduce the number of wines produced … but this is not an option in a period where revenues and wealth are on the agenda.

So spending more on the harvesting teams is needed … more flexibility and more people available on time. And having French bureaucracy kept in line for a prompt harvest start … when the grapes demand it!

Consumers … actively choosing

The second layer is that the end user needs to understand and evaluate the ripeness level, and skip the overripe wines (or underripe).

There are even wines from very good producers that suffer from bad harvest timing; skip them if possible … there isn’t anything worse than a flat and overripe Chardonnay.

If you can’t skip the cuvees … then the problem needs to be solved otherwise … but to be honest, the product is failing to live up to the standard you should be able to demand. The producers often know the problem (I hope) and will be able to have an honest and adult conversation about the problem.

ALWAYS Remember rule no. 1 of vin d’émotion… Frais and Léger … that’s the minimum …