Burgundy 2023: The
State of Play

BY NEAL MARTIN | JANUARY 17, 2025

Two years ago, I wrote that in
order to take the pressure off demand for Burgundy—and by that, I refer to the
Côte d’Or specifically—there would need to be three consecutive plentiful
vintages. That would erode the fanaticism that fuels demand and allow all sides
to catch their breath and take stock of the current economic climate, one in
which there is less disposable income, higher interest rates and generally more
prudence and hesitance. 

Three plentiful vintages did not
come to pass. 

There were two. 

Two thousand twenty-four will end
up as one of the smallest yields in living memory, with some producers in the
worst-affected appellations like Vosne-Romanée and Nuits Saint-Georges facing just
10% of a normal crop (though on average,&nbsp;according to Burgundy’s organizational body, the BIVB,&nbsp;there was a less dramatic 30%
reduction across the region). This paints the bountiful 2023 vintage in a
different light compared to 12 months ago. Previously, there was some anxiety
about surplus supply, especially with what you might call “mid-tier” producers.
Now, some consider 2023 a Godsend, allowing producers and merchants to even out
allocations. Those producers that are financially able, and crucially, those with
available storage in a region where that is certainly not a given, will withhold
part of their 2023s and combine them with their 2024s next year. Jason Haynes at
Flint Wines, one of the UK’s major Burgundy importers, tells me that following
successful pre-releases in December, they will slim down the number of domaines
in their main January offer. At Flint Wines’ tasting in London this month, there
were no producers from Côte Chalonnaise or Mâconnais present. Also absent were
the two or three Côte d’Or producers whose prices tend to remain static after
release. These will be sold from stock throughout the year. Like me, Haynes opines that if 2024 had been a normal vintage, we would have seen more price reductions.
We will never know what that might have been. Instead, most producers will hold
prices level, though discussing the matter with several merchants&nbsp;(including Goedhuis Waddesdon and Justereini &amp; Brooks), most cut
their margins to price their 2023s slightly below 2022 levels. This was often done
in collaboration with winemakers cutting their margins as well, mindful of the
challenging market. A head buyer of a major UK merchant tells me that in their
portfolio, around 40% of the wines are offered at 10-15% below last year’s
price, just under 10% are priced higher, and the remainder are the same as the 2022s.

How this will play out in the
market remains to be seen. A swath of offerings in the Côte d’Or are overpriced,
not least after the diminished crop of 2021, when winemakers justified price
hikes of up to 50% or 60% by shortage in supply. Be that as it may, the
consequence of these increases is that mediocre wines end up on restaurant
lists at ludicrous prices, to the point where—surely like many others—I browse
the Burgundy section purely out of curiosity.
Some restaurants now eschew Burgundy altogether, though many maintain certain
producers’ wines as there is still a tidy profit to be made should a diner decide
to blow the budget. Indeed, I heard of someone nonchalantly dropping over
£20,000 recently. It’s the consumer’s prerogative to spend as they wish, and that
money helps pay staff wages during quieter months. On the flip side, the younger
generation is priced out of Burgundy. There are plenty of choices for quality
Pinot Noir elsewhere: Hemel-en-Aarde, German Spätburgunder, Sonoma, New Zealand,
Chile or even, God forbid, <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/the-only-way-is-essex-danbury-ridge-apr-2024">Essex</a>.

Sadly, there is a cadre of
winemakers in the Côte d’Or who see their wine as a luxury product, like a
vinous Gucci bag or Rolex, a trinket for the wealthy. As such, these winemakers
regard price as the sole measure of success, which creates an upward spiral of
“keeping up with the Joneses.” Some are convinced that there is a conveyor
below of buyers for their top wines, assuming that if one consumer rejects
higher prices, there is another that will take their place. There is some truth
in that, but there is also a ceiling. To quote the German proverb: Trees
don’t grow to the sky. Two or three growers admitted they resented hiking up
prices but felt they had no choice; competitors’ price escalation creates a perception
of inferiority in lower-priced wines, unfairly casting them in a negative light.
That’s the problem when wine becomes a Veblen good. On more than one occasion,
I sat in a Beaune restaurant and watched customers ignore the raft of superb,
well-priced wines and go directly to the “rare” section to overspend on a cult
name. I also witnessed the disappointment that can ensue.

Other producers told me that they
could not entertain price reductions because it would be perceived as a
backward step or an admission that they had mispriced previous vintages. This
is tantamount to discarding an economic lever whereby producers can control the
market and maintain a steady flow through the distribution system to the consumer.
Look at the consequences for Bordeaux. Burgundy might have convinced itself
that it is immune to a similar fate. After all, quantities in Burgundy are far
smaller, so it takes a much smaller uptick in demand or (as it might transpire)
downturn in supply to lock prices at a higher level. Even so, that does not
imply Burgundy will avoid long-term consequences, not to mention stoking
accusations of avarice. 

It is, of course, far more
complicated than that. As I have written before, consider the&nbsp;Côte Chalonnaise&nbsp;winemaker who
told me that he sells his Premier Crus for around 30 euros, only to see them
sold in restaurants for 200 euros. Not in Singapore, New York or London…in
Beaune.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1737048386243-Vinous_Burgundy+Market+cover.jpg">The vineyards of Clos de Vougeot, redux edition. 

Who is the party toiling in the
vines every day? Who gambles with capricious Mother Nature or could lose everything
in a single hailstorm or frost? How can the middleman justify creaming away
more profit than the winemaker if wine is such an easy sell? If someone is
willing to pay high prices, shouldn’t the winemaker pocket their fair share? I
can empathize because as a published author, I make less money than either my
publisher or distributor. Hey, at least Amazon doesn’t distribute Burgundy, at
least not yet! 

At the other end of the spectrum is
the cluster of arrivistes who launch their portfolios at extraordinarily high
prices. Why wait for demand and acclaim to justify higher prices if you can skip
all that, pitch your wares at your desired price point and inveigle consumers
that your wines are the best thing since sliced bread via ex-winery
prices that will be uttered in the same breath as secondary market
prices of Roumier and Rousseau. (Please note the crucial difference between
ex-winery and secondary prices, as they are often conflated in debate. Both Roumier
and Rousseau release wines at a fraction of their secondary prices.) No, all
you need to do is launch your new name with a slick social media campaign to create
a mirage of mystique and elusiveness, then sit back and watch consumers form an
orderly queue for the latest cult. 

Is that pulling the wool over
peoples’ eyes? Or self-belief? 

The only way to tell is to assess
the wine in the glass, though of course, by dint of small quantities and
refusal, producers avoid comparisons at all costs, lest they risk being labeled
the emperor’s new clothes. Such is gullibility and the frantic quest to be
ahead of the pack. During my trip, I discovered how one such cult producer had
exaggerated their backstory to an almost comical degree, much to the chagrin of
the names they dropped. That “brushing the shoulders of a famous winemaker and
becoming a star” joke in my satirical introduction has a large kernel of truth.
It leaves a bad taste in the mouths of those who have worked a lifetime to
build their name, borrowed money to invest in their vines, honed their craft, and
endured the ups and downs on a journey that got them where they are. But if winemakers
buy fruit at inflated prices because they can sell at inflated
prices, then there is nothing to stop that from continuing. 

So, with depleted volumes of 2024
incoming, expect prices to hold instead of falling. At the end of the day, the
Côte d’Or remains a mecca despite its slightly tarnished image. It is no longer
angelic or beyond reproach. Everyone is human. Everyone has a family to feed. Some,
certainly not the majority, have egos. Winemakers recognize the need to show
restraint and sympathy towards true Burgundy-lovers rather than speculators. Some
privately lament that their wines are reduced to mere investment vehicles,
whilst others covet that status as justification for the premium charged. Then
again, the tumbleweed that rolls through empty auction rooms for overpriced
domaines is not a good look. That has repercussions, proof that there is little
appetite for such wines on the secondary market, implying that buyers who forked
out inflated sums hoping for a tidy return got what they deserved. As Bordeaux
has discovered to its detriment, though selling wines to the most affluent
might enhance the region’s image, such consumers tend not to hesitate when they
get a whiff of a bad buy, or when economic winds blow in a different direction.
Demand is less “sticky.” That is what happened to a small number of growers in
the Côte d’Or. The 2024 vintage will give those producers an opportunity to
restore some of the elusiveness that 2022 and 2023 eroded, even though that is
not necessarily beneficial in the long term. 

In the meantime, if you cannot
afford the top names, there are plenty of others included in my report that are
less expensive and offer just as much sensory pleasure. Look to Marsannay,
Savigny-lès-Beaune, Pernand-Vergelesses, Maranges, the Hautes-Côtes or far
afield to the Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais. Maybe those wines won’t get your
endorphins going like a bottle of DRC or Leroy, but that depends on whether you
derive pleasure from label or liquid. One could argue that Burgundy caters to both.
You choose what you drink. Nobody forces you. 

We will soon learn how successful
the January Burgundy campaign will be. Certainly, the various venues around the
city have thronged with prospective buyers. Speaking to these prospects,
several confess to being inured to current prices, accepting that with
allocations of 2024 inevitably rationed or canceled, they are still prepared to
buy their favorite producers. The&nbsp;head buyer at Goedhuis Waddesdon&nbsp;expressed cautious optimism that the
softening of prices over recent months has finally reached an equilibrium,
which means that now might be a good time to buy. In the coming months, it will
become clear whether the threats to impose import tariffs in the United States
were real or a bluff. I think the former, which is why importers are shipping
as much wine to the States as possible right now. This would also explain the
general unease with respect to this vital market for Burgundy.

As I articulated in my main
report, the quality of 2023 is there. That is no longer sufficient to guarantee
demand. Now that the speculative aspect has receded, price is a far more
important part of the buying decision process. Consumers see prices for what
they are, not the profit producers might make. The nascent 2024 vintage has
become a critical part of the 2023 campaign. Producers, merchants and consumers
know what is coming. 

How will they react? 

We will see imminently.© 2025, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or redistributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright,but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.<hr> You Might Also Enjoy<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/the-lord-giveth-burgundy-2023-jan-2025">The Lord Giveth…Burgundy 2023</a>, Neal Martin, January 2025<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/fair-warning-burgundy-2022-the-market-jan-2024">Fair Warning: Burgundy 2022 - The Market</a>, Neal Martin, January 2024<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/now-for-my-latest-trick-burgundy-2022-jan-2024">Now, For My Latest Trick: Burgundy 2022</a>, Neal Martin, January 2024 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/burgundy-2021-the-market-jan-2023">Burgundy 2021: The Market</a>, Neal Martin, January 2023 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/servants-of-the-seasons-burgundy-2021-jan-2023">Servants of the Season: Burgundy 2021</a>, Neal Martin, January 2023<div></div><div><a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/dance-the-quickstep-burgundy-2020-dec-2021">Dance the Quickstep: Burgundy 2020</a>, Neal Martin, December 2021</div>

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