2018 Red Burgundy Retrospective

A September check-in on the 2018 red Burgundies proved a fascinating, and at times, thrilling five days of tasting. I had not tasted the vintage so extensively since the Autumn of 2019 and so I was delighted to find as many good wines as I did then, from barrel; if anything I came away even more enthused than my initial impressions allowed me. Many of the wines have found a calmness and balance I had not broadly predicted at the time: alcohols were a little less dominant and bold tannins, though still very much a feature of the vintage, were better matched to the fruit.  There is no doubting this is a big, powerful vintage, of course, but they seem to have settled into themselves and feel a bit less daunting. Whilst it is clearly one of the less consistent red vintages of the last few years, lack of freshness or predominance of brett being the two major pitfalls, there were so many wines I loved; many wines I could seem myself enjoying earlier in their life than I had imagined. Be selective but don’t miss the 2018s, embrace their exuberance and boldness, you won’t regret it.

All wines were tasted blind. The flights were organised by village and, where possible, by vineyard or vineyard style.

Amongst the 100 producers, and 241 wines entered, there were a handful of producers I personally found to be consistently outstanding.

• Bruno Clair

• Trapet

• Comte Liger Belair

• Violot Guillemard

• Tawse

• Groffier 

As a general pattern, and this is very broad brush, the wines that showed best were from clay-dominant sites.  Vineyards strongly influenced by limestone did not quite seem to hit the highs they often do.  This applies equally to the Cote de Beaune as it does the Cote de Nuits.

In the Cote de Beaune, Corton was a little less inconsistent than usual, perhaps, but the really top wines were limited to just a small handful -Renardes from Camille Giroud and Rognet from Michel Mallard the clear winners as far as I was concerned; Volnay performed a little below expectations but still produced some excellent wines, Comtes Lafon the most consistent producer and Clos des Chenes the most consistent vineyard. My preferred wine, though, was the stony Taillepieds from Domaine de Montille.

However, eclipsing anything else in the Cote de Beaune, was Pommard; continuing its rapid upwards qualitative trajectory of the last few years…  Not only did I find my scores consistently high - Clos de la Chapelle, Comte Armand, Genot Boulanger, Launay Horiot and Olivier Leflaive, Buffet and Domaine du Pavillon all doing well – but also the peaks were higher than anything else in the Cote de Beaune; my number one spot was reserved for Violot-Guillemard’s Pommard Rugiens ( the seven wine Rugiens flight was the best flight in the Cote de Beaune ) a wine of power and nuance, that beautifully balanced earthy substance with high-toned florality.

The Cote de Nuits produced some of the tasting’s most exciting wines, but lacked the consistency found in the best corners of the Cote de Beaune (listed in tasting order) :

• Nuits-St-Georges -  This is a village that has recently overperformed versus its reputation over the last few years, but 2018 turned out to be a little underwhelming; solid wines but nothing too exceptional. The hail that fell in Premeaux clearly did not help the wines there, but quality was better further north.  Just south of Nuits, Cailles, Les St Georges and Vaucrains, was the sweet spot. Chevillon’s Vaucrains my standout.

• Clos de Vougeot - A solid and consistent showing, without producing anything that quite hit greatness. There were some strapping wines, as you would expect, the best examples for me were the ones that displayed a drive, nerve and freshness to counterbalance that raw power.  Comte Liger-Belair’s was my pick of the bunch.

• Chambolle-Musigny - A less exciting year for Chambolle than is often the case. This is an early-ripening village with lots of limestone. The best examples were from the more clay influenced lower vineyards like Charmes. The rest were generally were very concentrated, stony, tight-wound wines.  My preferred wines shared a juiciness and freshness, the pick of the bunch being Groffier’s Sentiers, closely followed by Drouhin’s 1er Cru and Barthod’s Charmes.

• Morey-St-Denis – A decent if unexceptional showing in the Premiers Crus, though in general the wines were perhaps a little fresher than in Chambolle, but it was the Grand Crus that really excelled here. Given the brilliance of its Grands Crus, you’d think Morey would have greater cachet as an appellation. Clos de la Roche (Arlaud and H Lignier), Clos st Denis , Clos de Tart and Lambrays were all generally very successful, Lambrays being the pick of the bunch; it was a flight that just eclipsed Bonnes Mares  - among which Vougeraie’s and Groffier’s were the most interesting.

• Gevrey-Chambertin – This was the most successful village, in terms of consistency. There were some really lovely wines mixing structure and lift – there seemed to be more freshness here than in other parts of Cote de Nuits. In and around the Combe de Lavaux was the most successful part. Clos St Jacques was a stellar flight and Bruno Clair’s was the stand out example; whilst Combottes, Lavaux, and Cazetiers all showed extremely well. Of the Grand Crus I found the Chapelles more consistent than the Charmes and Mazoyeres without being earth-moving; the Latricieres & Mazis flight provided a step up – Tawse and Trapet were the most impressive; however, outside of Chambertin, the Ruchottes were the best of the rest, showing more refinement than the others – an exquisite, vibrant Mugneret-Gibourg and a richer, more seductive Henri Magnien were my preferred wines.

• Chambertin and Clos de Beze, provided the most excitement. Chambertins from Rousseau, Camille Giroud and Rossignol Trapet were superb, but the most complete was that of Trapet; Bruno Clair’s Clos de Beze was also among the best wines of the two flights, but the greatest of all was the Beze from Groffier, as vibrant as it was sumptuous.

• Musigny - Often there is clear distance here between these and the best Grands Crus of Gevrey but in 2018 I would put the best Chambertin’s on a par with the best Musignys. Tawse was the wine I enjoyed most, followed by that of Mugnier. It really did feel as if Gevrey had the edge over Chambolle in 2018.

• Moving finally to Vosne. Unfortunately I had to leave the tasting for the 1ers Crus, the general feedback from fellow tasters was of broad success, without quite having the stellar quality these wine often show – those of Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair being the notable exception, providing the group’s two best wines in Reignots and Petits Monts, according to the average scores.

I was lucky enough to return for the Vosne Grands Crus, however:

• Echezeaux - The two fights of Echezeaux were consistent without offering up anything magical. The best efforts were those of Domaine d’Eugenie and Millot.  The rest of the Vosne Grands Crus very much typified the vintage as a whole, inconsistent but sometimes spectacular and there is no doubt that the vintage’s best wines are to be found here.  One of these was AF Gros Richebourg – the best example from them that I can remember tasting; another was the excellent Richebourg from Grivot, however Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair’s La Romanee was head and shoulders above anything else I tasted during the week, offering up a layered and nuanced intensity, an exquisite mix of energy, power and finesse.

Clos du RoiDomaine Tawse, Domaine Camus-Bruchon & Domaine Tollot-Beaut

Les AigrotsSebastien Magnien

EpenottesDominique Lafon

Les BressandesDomaine des Croix

PertuisotsJean-Yves Devevey