Free delivery when you spend over £200
VIP Club with Exclusive Offers
Multi Award Winning Wine Merchant
Established 1994

Burgundy Vintage Reviews

"With the overall quality of Burgundy wines, both red and white on the increases there is now a high demand around the world due to the rising in consumer confidence. Many Domaines are using more a more organic approach to viticulture (vineyard work) and also producing wine with riper tannins, which is making the wines much more accessible and more popular with a wider range of palates.

Unlike Bordeaux, Burgundy is very fragmented and volumes are small. In our opinion it's more about the Winemaker/Domaine than the Commune (village name). Many wines sell out on release especially the Grand Cru's so its best to inform us of your interest before the next campaign begins.

James Goodhart, Bon Coeur Fine Wines

Vintage	Score	Drinking Status	Comments
2021	Red 8.5/10 White 9/10	Lay Down Lay Down/Drink Now	Very low yields yet 2021 has in places flourished, where bright, vibrant and charming wines have been produced in both colours. A classic vintage.
2020	Red 9/10 White 9.5/10	Lay Down Lay Down/Drink Now	Serious vintage with lovely concentration, length and depth yet wonderfully balanced with fresh, vibrant and juicy acidity. Lovely vintage with lower yields.
2019	Red 9/10 White 8.5/10	Lay Down Lay Down/Drink Now	Touch warmer vintage with plenty of extraction that slightly favours red over white.
2018	Red 9/10 White 8.5/10	Lay Down/Drink Now Lay Down/Drink Now	Forward, ripe vintage. A real crowd pleaser, however missing a little freshness acidity for the whites. Reds are volumptuous, rich and impressive. A very good red vintage.
2017	Red 8.5/10 White 9/10	Lay Down/Drink Now Lay Down/Drink Now	In my opinion, 2017 is the best vintage for whites since 2014 as they are wonderfully fresh and aromatic with less opulence than 2015, however, with more grace than 2016. As for reds, they offer ripe fruit, fine tannins and well-balanced acidity even if they lack a little density or power in comparison to the 2015 and 2016s. Overall, the 2017s are of a graceful, luscious style and are very approachable for the short to mid-term drinking and will give plenty of pleasure for years to come.
2016	Red 9/10 White 8.5/10	Lay Down/Drink Now Lay Down/Drink Now	Despite the extreme difficulties of the vintage (wet winter and a devastating spring frost), we discovered some excellent wines for investment, laying down and the drinking cellar. For the reds it is a classical vintage like 2010, yet with more tension and wonderful vibrancy, without being too high in acidity. On the other hand, the whites have an appealing richness, attractive veins of minerality, spirit, energy and brightness that makes them stand out from the crowd. Despite low yields, winemakers were able to make pivotal decisions and as a result, the 2016 vintage is one of promise
2015	Red 9/10 White 9/10	Lay Down Lay Down	It is unquestionably an outstanding vintage, the best for 10 years... The wines have plenty of power, especially ripeness and natural sweetness, yet they express a wonderful finesse, focus and tension. Everything, including alcohol is in moderation (normally between 13-13.5%), tannins are mega fine and well structured, with oak influences minimalised. 2015 is an accessible vintage, compared to 2014 it will be an early drinking vintage (due to its seductive nature) however on the upper level, the wines have great potential for graceful ageing and will over the years give much pleasure.
2014	Red 8.5/10 White 10/10	Lay Down Lay Down	A beautiful vintage; one that offers stunning individuality, vibrancy and energy. We found ourselves describing the wines of having wonderful balance, freshness and purity. In many cases it is an early drinking vintage, however, the wines from the better 'terroir' have good depth and structure that will contribute to them cellaring well and give much pleasure in years to come.
2013	Red 7/10 White 7/10	Lay Down/Drink Now Lay Down/Drink Now	A complicated, small vintage where the yields down by as much as 60% in volume from the 2009 vintage. Despite a difficult and varied growing season, including a freak hailstorm that destroyed parts of Pommard and Volnay in July, the vignerons were helped by a dry, cool August and September which resulted in small bunches and a late harvest. In terms of quality we found the Village wines closer in style to the 2011 vintage where the ‘terroir’ seems to have played a more prominent role. In addition, the Grand Crus are closer in style to the 2012 vintage.
2012	Red 8.5/10 White 8.5/10	Lay Down Lay Down/Drink Now	The wines have a lovely vibrancy, silky texture and in many cases are very precise, with lots of individual identity, reflecting the terroir and vineyard. They have more weight and concentration than the 2011's without being jammy like many hot vintages. Sadly, the 2012 vintage is very small due to the cold spring that caused poor flowering which resulted in a poor fruit set (coulure) with small and large berries (Millerandage). In addition, there was 3 major hailstorms that has affected the vines and some growers have unfortunately only produced between 20-40% of their normal yields. The six weeks before harvest (20th September) were largely dry with warm periods that allowed the grapes to reach optimum ripeness. On average the yields are down between 20-40% on the Cote de Nuits and between 20-75% in the Cote de Beaune.
2011	Red 8/10 White 8.5/10	Lay Down Drink Now/Lay Down	Generally we consider Burgundy 2011 to be on par with 2007, with slightly higher fruit levels. We found some very good wines, though it does vary considerably depending upon the producer and vineyard. We have therefore our chosen producers carefully and have bought where we found good wines that were true to the terroir and appellation.
2010	Red 9/10 White 8.5/10	Lay Down Drink Now/Lay Down	Early days as most of the better wines are still in barrel, however, the juice/wines we have tasted to date are very good. Slightly less generous than the super rich, seductive 2009. This vintage has excellent concentration and a touch more acidity. Prices are likely to be more expensive than 2009.
2009	Red 9/10 White 8+/10	Lay Down Drink Now/Lay Down	Awesome vintage for red wines. Considered to be the best vintage since 1999, helped by the advancement of wine making techniques. Excellent fruit levels with good acidity and balance. The white wines are good, however, at the moment some of the 2008 from the Cote d'Or (Puligny/Chassagne-Montrachet and Meursault) are showing better at the moment. Hard to go wrong.
2008	Red 7/10 White 7/10	Drink Now/Lay Down Drink Now/Lay Down	The cool summer and problems with mildew didn't help. Burgundy is more down to the individual wine maker, therefore some will have done much better than others. The 2008's are slightly richer, more generous on the mid-palate than 2007 and in general there are some good wines. Some prices have started to look reasonable, however, the exchange rate isn't helping.
2007	Red 6/10 White 6/10	Drink Now Drink Now	After three good vintages in a row prices have kept rising, yet unfortunately quality is down. The wines we have tasted are at best on par with the average 2006. Like Bordeaux, they had a challenging growing season and it was hard to pick the fruit at optimum ripeness. We are trying to avoid buying wines from this vintage wherever possible as they are more expensive and not as good as the 2006.
2006	Red 7/10 White 8/10	Drink Now/Lay Down Drink Now	Better white wine vintage than red. Slightly fresher in style than 2005 and in some cases better, although a few producers picked too late and as a result lost some of the freshness/acidity balance. It is unfortunate that this vintage is likely to be in the shade of the 2005 vintage. However, do not ignore 2006 as there are some excellent wines.
2005	Red 10/10 White 9/10	Drink Now/Lay Down Drink Now	An excellent vintage all round. Some of the whites are lacking a bit of freshness, otherwise it could have been the perfect vintage. Prices for the reds have gone through the roof for the top producers. Flowering started on the 28-9th May and went on for three weeks as the weather got colder. June and July were fairly dry but not as dry as 2003. However, hard to go wrong with this vintage.
2004	Red 7/10 White 8/10	Drink Now Drink Now	Complete opposite to 2003. One of the largest harvests on record. Many producers picked too early before the wines were at their optimum ripeness. Some excellent wines, however, not widespread. Regarding the reds, a hail storm on the 23rd August did a fair amount of damage in Pommard, Volnay, Beaune and Savigny. Cote de Nuits has the slight edge over the Cote de Beaune.
2003	Red 8/10 White 6/10	Drink Now Drink Now	Very hot vintage and 15 consecutive days of temperatures in excess of 40 degrees centigrade resulted in sugar levels soaring and the 'Ban de Vendages' (official start to the Vendage) being declared on the 18th August, the earliest date ever. Many producers struggled as the wines were low in acidity. An Australian vintage in Burgundy! We avoided this vintage as many wines had a burn/ raison character and lacked freshness. The reds are much better than the whites.
2002	Red 9/10 White 9/10	Drink Now Drink Now	An excellent all round vintage. The reds are exceptionally focused, with ripe, soft tannins and good freshness due to the cool summer. A dryer than average winter led to a warm and dry Spring, which resulted in early flowering. Summer was cool and dry, allowed for slow maturation of the grapes that maintained acid levels.
2001	Red 8/10 White 8/10	Drink Now Drink Now	A challenging vintage, a lot of hard work was required in the vineyards. They had all sorts of problems with frost, uneven flowering and hail storms. Overall, a good vintage but will always be in the shadow of 2002.
2000	Red 7/10 White 8/10	Drink Now Drink Now	Good growing season in the vineyards (with the exception of a storm in Beaune on the 12th September). This vintage the whites are better than the reds. Similar to the 1999 vintage but not as fat and slightly more mineralic. Some good reds but lighter in style and early drinking.

Burgundy Vintage Reviews

@boncoeurfinewines

Join Us!

Thank you for subscribing!