Ten Years
On: Burgundy 2013&nbsp;

BY NEAL MARTIN |&nbsp;OCTOBER 17, 2023Every
year, while doing the rounds of barrel tastings up and down the Côte d’Or, I
like to revisit an older vintage. Last year, I asked winemakers if they could
pull out a 2013, white or red, seeing as we often crack open bottles that reach
that decade milestone. This is by no means a comprehensive overview of the
vintage, but it serves as a litmus test to see how various wines are evolving,
whether it is a vintage that might be worth opening now or is best left in a
cool, dank cellar.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1697549741412-jadot+2013+pic+%282%29.jpg">Two
thousand thirteen saw a very challenging growing season. Firstly, there was
late, irregular, strung-out flowering so that by the end of May, the growth
cycle lagged by over a fortnight or more. In many ways, it was a precursor to
the infamous 2021 season, with constant showers making it problematic for
embattled vineyard workers to find dry windows to spray. July 23 will stick in
the minds of producers for all the wrong reasons. It was a day when hailstorms
targeted the belt between Savigny-lès-Beaune and Volnay. July was warmer, which
allowed vines to catch up a little, although even this month saw sporadic heavy
showers. Mildew constantly lurked on the horizon, attacking bunches as well as
leaves. This obliged frequent spraying to protect the vines, though, by this
time, the ground in some places was turning into a quagmire. Tractors were so difficult
to drive that authorities permitted helicopters to spray where necessary.
That’s an option available to but a tiny handful of growers, and in any case,
it’s a blunt instrument, especially if your organic or biodynamic vines lay
adjacent to someone using chemicals. Thankfully, August brought some respite
and was relatively benign. A priori, it was a very late harvest that saw many
not entering the vineyard until the first week of October, the latest since 1984.
Just to compound their problems, heavy rain on October 5 and 6 meant that
botrytis had a late-season field day. To mitigate their losses, harvest teams
pressed ahead and picked as much as they could, sorting the fruit as much as
possible and chaptalizing to make up for the shortfall in sugar levels.
Unsurprisingly, quality varied wildly at the time of their release; some wines
were bright, fresh and approachable in contrast with others clearly afflicted
by rot and green tannins.&nbsp;&nbsp; Revisiting
around 75 whites and reds from the 2013 vintage, the turbulent growing season
gives cause to its inconsistencies not just between appellations and producers
but from wine to wine. On the other hand, it is definitely not a vintage to
write off. I rank it slightly above 2008, another troublesome vintage that
invites comparisons. Some excellent growers that I often rate highly struggled in
2013. Ten years on, their wines are either going nowhere or should be drunk. Here,
I’m thinking of the likes of Bruno Clair in Marsannay and Virgile
Lignier-Michelot in Morey-Saint-Denis. However, perusing my scores, the hit
rate of what I consider respectable is higher than anticipated. If there was
one moment that summed up the 2013s, it was when a sommelier at <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/vinous-table-chez-bruce-london-uk-aug-2019">Chez
Bruce</a> poured blind a bottle of 2013 Volnay Taillepieds 1er Cru from Domaine
François Buffet to a table of seasoned palates that included a Master of
Wine. It was so delicious that I had to double-check that it was, indeed, my
contribution: effervescent red berry fruit on the nose, lace-like tannins, the
purity of fruit that is almost irreplicable elsewhere. My fellow diners were
astonished when the vintage was revealed; none had heard of Buffet before. (Of
course, they would if they read my reports!) I was particularly impressed by
the wines tasted from Domaine Arlaud in Morey-Saint-Denis, a grower that
bucks the trend in off-vintages if given time in bottle. Even the whites,
generally deemed to be even more erratic than the reds, had a few gems up their
sleeve, such as Domaine du Comtes-Lafon’s Meursault Perrières and Bouchard
Père &amp; Fils’s Corton-Charlemagne. <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1697549802838-ponsot+2013+pic+%282%29.jpg">When
all is said and done, the 2013s from Burgundy are better than the Bordeaux
alumni from the same year. That’s damning with faint praise. But whereas the
2013 Bordeaux come across as enervated and too often under-ripe, their Burgundy
counterparts seem to have accepted that they will never be considered a bona
fide great vintage and do the best they can against the headwinds. There is a
brightness to them, disarming simplicity, joie-de-vivre that makes you
forget about the travails that year. I suspect there are more 2013 Burgundy
whites and reds that may surpass expectations. Good luck hunting for them. © 2023, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or re-distributed 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/where-art-thou-chablis-chablis-2021-2022-sep-2023">Where Art Thou Chablis? - Chablis 2021 &amp; 2022</a>, Neal Martin, September 2023 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/moving-on-up-maconnais-2021-2022-aug-2023">Moving On Up: Mâconnais 2021 &amp; 2022</a>, Neal Martin, August 2023 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/burgundy-focus-4-ponsot-s-clos-de-la-roche-morey-monts-luisants-1934-2019-may-2023">Burgundy Focus 4: Ponsot’s Clos de la Roche &amp; Morey Monts Luisants 1934-2019</a>, Neal Martin, May 2023 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/vinous-table-chez-bruce-london-uk-aug-2019">Vinous Table:&nbsp;</a><a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/vinous-table-chez-bruce-london-uk-aug-2019">Chez Bruce – London</a>, Neal Martin, August 2019

Content

Engage

Vinous

Social