Burgundy 2020

~ 2020 Vintage Report ~

by Nicola Arcedeckne-Butler MW

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Never before have I spent so long in one country, one place, with only vicarious armchair travel to fill the void, via online tastings. The escape to Burgundy in October 2021 was my first foreign trip in 18 months and I felt like a child on Christmas Eve, fizzing with the excitement of each day; the sheer pleasure of seeing old friends again in the flesh, tasting their wines in their cellars, asking those questions which never quite come to you in time on a Zoom tasting, was unrivalled. So much water has passed under the bridge for us all, so similar yet so different, that it was hard to keep to my already looser than usual schedule whilst catching up on the missing months.

When writing about the 2020 wines from Burgundy, the challenge is to try and judge the vintage on its own merits rather than seeing it through the lens of 2021, a game changer if ever there was one. Marion Javillier commented that in her mind’s eye the year 2020 was terrible because we were all locked up for the first time, something unthinkable in 2019, yet in reality there is much to celebrate. As if to mitigate the pressure of lockdowns, the weather gods smiled benignly on most of Europe, with glorious weather persisting from March right through until the autumn; vignerons were allowed to work their vines as normal, and the rhythm of the vineyard continued much as it always does.

The Growing Season:

2020 was quick off the blocks, with February registering temperatures 3.7C warmer than the seasonal average, promoting an early budburst; March was more moderate but April continued February’s trend, ensuring the vegetative cycle was a good two to three weeks ahead of schedule. May, June and July enjoyed close to average temperatures and flowering passed off smoothly without any hitches, presaging a generous harvest. In August the temperatures ratcheted up again, some 2C above the average, and by this stage it was clear that the lack of water was going to become a defining feature of the 2020 season. There were some localised light showers which refreshed the vines briefly, but they were neither widespread nor plentiful enough to lift the water stress. This is a year when the great soils have really shown their pedigree, with the vine roots digging deep into the clay and limestone subsoils to seek out moisture and sustenance; those vines on well-draining soils or with poor root systems had a more difficult time.

The leaf system is vital to protect the growing fruit, however in a hot, dry year, the vine is careful not to produce too many leaves to reduce its water dependency, meaning that there was little shade for the bunches. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir react very differently to heat and drought; with its thin skin, Pinot is prone to shrivelling and losing its valuable juice, with some growers estimating that they lost up to 40% of their Pinot Noir volume through desiccation. Whilst Chardonnay suffers less from drying out, the sun destroys the malic acid, one of the two key fruit acids, but leaves the more stable tartaric acid intact which was to be crucial for the final balance of the wines.

The precocious nature of 2020 continued right through to harvest, with many growers in the Côte de Beaune starting to bring in their fruit as early as 17th August, in many cases with reds coming in either before or at the same time as the whites. Elsa Matrot explained that their Volnay 1er Cru Santenots, harvested on the 17th, was perfectly ripe, with a fine 13.6% potential alcohol, silky tannins and a good level of acidity – there was nothing to be gained by waiting except rising alcohol and waning acidity. The majority of the Côte de Beaune was harvested by the end of August and in the Côte de Nuits, most started harvesting either at the end of August or in the first days of September, finishing a couple of weeks later.

The Quality Question:

Against a backdrop of heat, early harvest and reduced yields, our expectation was to find sunny wines – buckets of fruit, supple tannins, ripe or even cooked flavours and low acidity. We couldn’t have been further from the mark! With their raised tartaric acidity, the whites have a lovely vivacity and verve, fresh and bright yet succulent and juicy too, with a delicious persistence on the palate, a real joy to taste. And the reds? They were the biggest surprise of all, with incredibly deep colours, purple black – ‘notre Merlot’ as Elsa Matrot put it – and bursting with juicy, crunchy red fruits with a lovely tart cranberry freshness on the end which makes them incredibly moreish.

We found uniformly brilliant wines from our growers, both in the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits. This was a vintage where each individual vineyard and lieu dit really showed what it was capable of, and the differentiation between the wines was extraordinary, particularly as hot summers can reduce the sense of terroir in favour of sunny flavours, but that is most certainly not the case with the 2020s. These are wines which are alluring in their youth whilst maintaining a marginally stricter backnote to discourage immediate consumption (unlike the 2019s which had instant appeal) and with their bright acidity and, in most cases, more moderate alcohol levels, these wines will drink well in the mid- and longer-term, and certainly after the 2018s and 2019s.

The Market:

The thirst for Burgundy, at every quality level, shows no sign of abating, and already during lockdown there was immense pressure on Burgundy stocks across most markets – our 2019 opening offer sold out in record time, mainly because prices remained stable despite the small harvest; 2020 represents, for many growers, little more than half a normal crop because of the heat and 2021 fared little better. Growers are facing a very real dilemma; they want to support their loyal customers by keeping their prices stable but alongside diminishing returns from the vineyard, production costs have increased across the board and therefore price increases are inevitable both for the 2020 and the 2021 vintages in order for them to be able to keep their heads above water.

To discuss the vintage, learn more about the wines and for help in preparing your wish list, please call us on 01353 721 999 or contact your usual salesperson.