Vintage Report – Burgundy 2014 vintage – November 2015

During my November trip to Burgundy I had the opportunity to taste quite a lot of 2014s from a quite wide range of producers.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality and the pleasure I found in all the wines I tasted. Especially the reds showed better than expected .. delightful wines … and while my expectations regarding the whites were high .. they were surpassed by the gorgeous wines I tasted in the Burgundian cellars and gardens. Truly balanced and delicate whites with a very fine purity and energy.

In other words the 2014 vintage is showing very well, introducing some delicate and charming wines – quite a contrast to the slightly austere 2013 vintage.

While most of the wines are still in cask or on tank, the media already seems to have shifted focus to the much hyped 2015 vintage. So my mission currently is to keep focus on the 2014s, rather than focussing on the fermenting juice from the 2015 vintage.

The 2014 red Burgundies

The reds from 2014 are in most cases very forward and fruity … expressive with a fine transparency and a nice fresh acidity.

They are in most cases truly delightful wines, with a lovely energetic fruit, perfectly balanced with a classic Burgundian style.

They are not big and weighty wines – but medium weight with a beautiful balance – offering a very fine drinkability indeed. So in a sense a contrast to the somewhat rustic 2013s. 

While this is perhaps not a candidate for vintage of the century – the 2014 vintage should in my view not be overlooked or forgotten as it delivers plenty of true Burgundian pleasure.

A quite large part of the market crave big and weighty wines that will keep for several decades – yet they seem to drink the wines too young .. often decades before the wine unfolds into a matured stage. So in my view many would in fact be better off by consuming the slightly lesser vintages .. while they wait for the big vintages to mature.

I highly recommend to buy some 2014s as this is a vintage you really don’t want to miss. For my own preferences this is one of the most delicate and charming vintages I have tasted from cask … so I’m personally not saving my money to buy more 2015s.

The 2014 white Burgundies

The 2014 white Burgundies are even better than the delightful reds. The whites are pure, racy, delicate and very balanced offering a very filigree interpretation of the Chardonnay grape.

While I don’t normally compare vintages the 2014 whites remind me of a vitalized version of the 2011s … same purity but with a more defined and energetic acidity .. and even more so with a juicy and precise definition of the micro complexity of the terroir.

These are truly magnificent whites … and while they can’t match the 2010 on power .. the purity and delicacy of the 2014s is quite unique.

I really love the 2014 whites as they offer all I want from a white Burgundy … and I somehow doubt that the 2015 whites will match the delicacy of these wines given the hot summer. But only time will tell!

I highly recommend the 2014 whites … as they are so pure and delicate offering all the length, power and you would, or should, want from a white Burgundy. Classic white Burgundies in the best sense.

Tasting notes from my Burgundy trip will be published over the next weeks – and will appear below when they become available.

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Sincere thanks to Ian Westcott for the editorial help on this article.