The 2013 Red Burgundies<div>“I’m in love with this vintage,” said Jean-Marie Fourrier about the
2013 red Burgundies in November, “but I’m almost afraid to say it because no
one will believe me. After all, it was an extremely difficult year and very few
of us were happy with the wines in the months following the harvest.” </div>Sound like déjà vu all over
again? Two thousand thirteen, which featured the latest harvest in decades, was
yet another challenging, stressful growing season that would have been a
washout a generation ago. Although production was again low and wine quality
varies widely—with much Pinot Noir on the Côte de Beaune compromised by a violent
hailstorm in late July—this very cool vintage has yielded many wonderfully
vibrant, perfumed, transparent wines that should please lovers of classic
Burgundy. While the 2013s are rarely powerhouses of structure, their sappy
fruit intensity, healthy acidity and mostly ripe tannins should enable them to
give pleasure on the early side and evolve gracefully in bottle.&nbsp;<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1421946501506-LaRomanee+vinous.jpg">La Romanée: One of Vosne-Romanées most privileged sitesThe 2013 Growing Season and HarvestAs I noted in the introduction to my <a target="_blank" href="http://vinousmedia.com/articles/2013-and-2012-white-burgundies-sep-2014">International Wine Cellar report
on the 2013 white Burgundies</a> last summer, the season began poorly, with cold, wet
weather during late winter and much of the spring.&nbsp;An uncommonly rainy,
chilly May set the stage for oidium and mildew problems as well as an extremely
late flowering. The vineyards were so muddy in April and May that growers could
not get their tractors in and had to do their treatments wearing moon suits.Conditions improved during the first half of June but the latest
flowering since 1978 took place during the second half of June—and even early
July—under distinctly mixed conditions, with cold, rainy weather drawing out
the process for as much as three weeks, resulting in significant coulure (shatter, or poor fruit set) and
millérandage (shot berries, or “hens and chicks”). The stage was set for
a small, very late harvest and inconsistent ripeness. Constant vineyard
treatments were needed to protect the fruit against mildew and oidium, and
on-and-off rainfall throughout the season often confounded the efforts of even
the most conscientious growers. Ultimately, though, the well-aerated clusters
and small berries helped to protect the fruit against rot.July and August brought mostly favorable conditions, with some rainy
breaks.&nbsp;The second half of July month was quite warm and the longest hot
period of the season extended from July 21 through August 5, after which August
temperatures turned more moderate through the end of the month and into early
September.&nbsp;There were a few rainy days but also plenty of sunny ones,
helping the grapes make up some of the lost time from earlier in the season. But
a severe hailstorm on July 23 did major damage to many vineyards on the Côte de
Beaune. Hardest hit was the area between Savigny-lès-Beaune and the northern
part of Pommard, where some vineyards lost as much as 90% of their crop; but
the Pernand side of the Corton hill, the rest of Pommard and much of Volnay
also suffered losses.The second and third weeks of September were cool and overcast, with
multiple rainy spells. Better conditions arrived after the 20th but
did not last for long. On the Côte de Beaune, growers rushed to bring in their
chardonnay in late September as the grape skins were fragile and rot was
spreading quickly. But very little pinot was ripe by the end of the month: sugar
levels in the grapes were still very low and acidity levels were high.&nbsp;<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1421947024774-ClosVougeot+vinous.jpg">The Castle at&nbsp;Clos VougeotMany estates that started picking late were interrupted by a washout of
a weekend on October 5 and 6, after which temperatures turned sharply colder,
which at least had the effect of slowing the spread of rot. Clearly, some fruit
was harvested in a rush in advance of the rainy weekend, before it was fully
ripe, while much more came in directly after the weekend, before the vineyards
had had a real chance to dry out. There was another significant day of rainfall
on October 9, after which the grapes still on the vines deteriorated more
rapidly, with rot spreading quickly and acidity levels falling. By most
accounts, the window for picking Pinot Noir with adequate phenolic ripeness,
sound acidity and reasonably healthy skins was very narrow in 2013.Strict sorting of the fruit was essential to making good wines in 2013,
with many producers eliminating grapes with less-than-healthy skins (from rot
or oidium) and underripe, pink (rosé) berries. But the harvest was
extremely tricky as the need to slow down in order to do a more careful
selection, both in the vines and in the wineries, had to be balanced against
the pressure to pick quickly due to deteriorating fruit.The Raw Materials and the Making of the WinesPotential alcohol levels in the grapes were generally lower than
average in 2013 by recent standards—most often in the 11.5% to 12% range—and most
growers chaptalized their Pinot Noirs between 0.5% and 1.0%. Even this modest
level of ripeness was only made possible by the small size of the crop.&nbsp;
But the pleasant surprise for growers was the healthy level of phenolic
ripeness due to the small size of crop and to the long, slow ripening of the
grapes. The combination of sound acidity levels, low natural alcohol,
relatively little incidence of sunburn and the small, concentrated grapes
helped to preserve aromatic precision and complexity and terroir character.With the harvest taking place under very cool conditions, the grapes
arrived in the cuveries at low
temperature and the fermentations started slowly. (Many wines in effect benefited
from a natural pre-fermentation cold maceration without having to be subjected
to a temperature shock or heavy sulfur additions to forestall the onset of the
alcoholic fermentations.) The primary fermentations generally went off without
a hitch but, with high acidity in the grapes, the malolactic fermentations
rarely started before the spring of 2014.As a rule, winemakers practiced gentle extraction with their 2013s, as
they were unsure about the quality of the grape skins, and this was all to the
good as the colors came easily due to the healthy acidity and ripe phenolics.
Several makers told me that they did less punching down of the cap (pigeage) during the vinification while
others noted that they carried out slightly cooler fermentations than usual,
although not necessarily shorter.The wines began with significant malic acidity, often at 2008 levels, and
thus were substantially transformed during the malolactic fermentations. In
most of the cellars I visited in November, the malos ended between late spring
and late summer, but some did not finish until after the 2014 harvest (and some
barrels were still bubbling away during my tour). Wines that had seemed tart
and fruit-deficient during their early months in barrel began to gain in
sweetness and texture, and harmonize, in the months following the end of the
malos. Many of the producers I tasted with in November were surprised by how
dramatically their wines had improved during the previous few weeks.&nbsp;<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1421947108174-Chambertin-Clos+de+B%C3%A8ze+on+a+rare+sunny+day+in+November+cropped.JPG">Clos de Bèze on a rare sunny day in NovemberThe Style of the WinesI must confess that this is my kind of Burgundy vintage, as I value
aromatic high notes, energy and site specificity in my wines. The 2013s tend to
be medium-bodied; even when they are silky, fine-grained and utterly delicious,
they’re not especially fleshy. And they are vibrant: you’ll see adjectives like
cool, pungent, sappy and crunchy throughout my notes and more mentions than
usual of tart red fruits like pomegranate and cranberry. Less-ripe ‘13s are
lean and unlikely ever to lose their tart edge or really blossom in bottle.
Many wines show a youthful rigidity that is more often due to high levels of
acidity and a lack of stuffing than to green tannins.Yes, 2013 has yielded a lot of cool, reserved wines but when their
acidity is reasonably well integrated and their tannins sufficiently ripe, they
do not come across as austere. Those producers who benefited from a higher
proportion of tiny millerandé berries
(the chicks I referred to earlier) could make wines with especially suave
tannins as these grapes typically contain fewer seeds and thus produce less
bitterness with extraction. Still, many winemakers cut back on their use of
whole-cluster vinification for fear that the stems were not sufficiently ripe
and might bring vegetal tastes into their wines. This was especially true on
the Côte de Beaune, where hail could introduce a taint or interfere with the
ripening process by destroying the foliage.The Côte de Beaune is clearly much less successful than the Côte de
Nuits in 2013. As a rule, these wines don’t have the depth or clarity of color,
the purity and intensity of fruit, or the pliancy of tannins of the successful
wines from the Côte de Nuits. But there are exceptions: quality is erratic,
depending to a large degree on the incidence of hail and on the willingness of
already financially-challenged growers to further cut their production by
brutally eliminating less-than-healthy fruit. Some very good Côte de Beaune
wines are quite tannic but extremely concentrated due to tiny yields, and these
wines may&nbsp; need more cellaring to become
agreeable than their counterparts from the Côte de Nuits will require.Some growers compare their 2013s to such recent vintages as 2011, 2008
or 2001 but quickly add that 2013 is superior owing to its fruit intensity,
suaver tannins and small crop level. A number of producers also compared their 2013s in style to their 1993s. At their very best,
the 2013s show the vivacity, finesse and high-pitched aromatics of the
glorious, classic 2010s, but very few ‘13s can match the ‘10s for sheer
inner-mouth tension and structure. Perhaps a blend of 2010 and 2008 would be a
more accurate comparison.I should note that the 2010 vintage, which until I discover otherwise I
consider to the finest Burgundy vintage of my professional career (the first
vintage I tasted from barrel was 1987), was also a problematic growing season
with a difficult, long flowering; cool temperatures during August and most of
September; and problems with rain—and very cold weather—during the harvest.
Most vignerons weren’t thrilled with
these wines when I tasted with them in November of that year. And yet the
vintage has turned out spectacularly. Two thousand thirteen will never reach
the exalted level of 2010, but quite a few ‘13s are moving in that direction as
they evolve in barrel.As a long-time collector of red Burgundy, as recently as 10 or 15 years
ago I would have been all over the 2013 reds. But with today’s high prices—not
to mention tiny quantities of the best wines spread thinly among
Burgundy-thirsty markets—it‘s much trickier these days to find the wines you
want most. But then no one ever said that buying Burgundy is easy.&nbsp;<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1421948084922-Rousseau+vinous.jpg">The cellar at&nbsp;Rousseau,&nbsp;Gevrey-Chambertin A Word on Projected Drinking
WindowsAs long-time International Wine Cellar readers know, I have always been
reluctant to provide likely peak drinking times for the wines I review. At
best, these are educated guesses, although I realize that they can be of
considerable value to collectors. My greatest fear in making these predictions is
that consumers may hold off popping corks only to find that their wines are
past their peaks—or that they would have derived more pleasure from drinking the
wines earlier for their youthful fruit.So my predictions in this year’s coverage of red Burgundy represent
what I believe will be the sweet spot for drinking these wines. Of critical
importance: these drinking ranges assume near-ideal cellar conditions: i.e.,
stable cellar temperatures below 60 degrees F (and preferably closer to 55),
and sufficient humidity to prevent corks from drying out.For those who question whether premier crus from 2013 will indeed give
pleasure for two decades, just a couple of comments. First, in December of 2013
I conducted a tasting for a group of consumers in New York City of 1988 red
Burgundies from the Côte de Nuits. All the wines came from my own collection,
which is stored in a temperature-controlled wine facility. At age 25, the wines
were glorious and full of life. Perhaps 1 out of 15 bottles was clearly past
its peak. I should note that we tasted wines almost entirely from the Côte de
Nuits, at least half of them grand crus. I might add that a year or two prior
to that we did the same exercise with the ‘93s, and although the wines were not
as impressive as the ’88s as a group, they were hardly fading.If you’re lucky enough to have ideal storage conditions for your wines,
the better 2013 cru bottlings may well offer pleasure beyond my projected
drinking planes. Well-made Burgundies, especially grand crus, can go on for
decades in a cold cellar.On the other hand, consumers who buy Burgundy for its glorious primary fruit
above all else may well prefer their wines young. And there’s no question that
many of the low-alcohol 2013s will be wonderfully complex and vivacious from
the moment of their release. Basically, I encourage you to drink your wines whenever
you like them, even if my experience with mature Burgundies has been that the
mellowness, greater depth and complexity that come with maturity are worth the
loss of primary fruit character. Chacun à
son goût.The wines in this article were tasted in Burgundy in November. I will
offer extensive coverage of the 2012 reds later this winter and Antonio Galloni
will publish his notes in the next few weeks on a number of additional growers
and négociants that I was unable to
visit in November.&nbsp;You Might Also EnjoyMultimedia:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://vinousmedia.com/multimedia/dominique-lafon-on-2013-burgundy">Dominique Lafon on 2013 Burgundy</a>&nbsp; Multimedia:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://vinousmedia.com/multimedia/louis-michel-liger-belair-on-2013-jan-2015">Louis-Michel Liger-Belair on 2013 Burgundy</a>Multimedia:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://vinousmedia.com/multimedia/frederic-barnier-of-jadot-dec-2014">Frédéric Barnier of Jadot on 2013 Burgundy</a>&nbsp; Multimedia:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://vinousmedia.com/multimedia/jean-marie-fourrier-on-2013-dec-2014">Jean-Marie Fourrier on 2013 Burgundy</a>







































































































































-- Stephen Tanzer

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