The 2010 Red Burgundies

by&nbsp;Antonio Galloni

I spent a total of six weeks in Burgundy in 2011. My most
recent trip, in late November/early December, was focused on the 2010 red
Burgundies. Overall, I am thrilled with the 2010 vintage. The wines are racy, show
fabulous minerality and are very true to site. In other words, the vintage
embodies all of the qualities that make red Burgundy one of the world’s most
compelling wines. 

The 2010 Harvest

To better understand the vintage, it might be helpful to
take a closer look at some of the key events of the year. The first of these
was a deadly winter frost in December 2009 that killed many plants and wiped
out a number of vineyards, especially in lower lying areas that are
particularly susceptible to frost. Most of the damage was done to the village
level parcels that lie adjacent to or near the Route Nationale. Cold weather
during the flowering was highly problematic. In a normal year the flowering
takes around a week, but in 2010 it took as long as a month. There was a very
high incidence of shatter and shot berries, both of which reduced potential
yields dramatically. As we will see later, these would turn out to be blessings
in disguise. The vines went into the summer with very light loads. There were
very few bunches on the vines, many of those bunches were loose (meaning with
few berries) and the berries themselves were small. A cold, damp summer
followed, which only served to fray the nerves of producers as they left for
their August vacations. At this juncture the expectation for the vintage on
paper was very low.

The weather improved in September, with a key spell of dry,
warm weather in the middle of the month. The harvest began later in the month
and stretched into October for some domaines. Growers had to work around rain
on September 24, but otherwise there were no major weather events during the
harvest. Most growers reported bringing in healthy fruit, which isn’t as
surprising as it might seem, given that one of the virtues of loose bunches is
that they allow for excellent access to air and sun for the individual berries.
There is little question that the naturally low yields were key in allowing the
fruit to ripen fully.

In the cellar, potential alcohols were a bit on the low
side. Many producers lightly chaptalized the wines, which is to say

they added about half a degree of alcohol. Fermentations
were slow to start because of the cold ambient temperatures, a theme that would
play out again in very slow and protracted malolactic fermentations, many of which
did not finish until the end of the following summer. Which brings us to the
present. I tasted all of the wines in this article in late November/early
December 2011. At the time, many of the wines had never been racked.

The 2010 Red Burgundies

The 2010s have huge fruit, but also good acidity and finessed
tannins. Many growers like to say 2010 has the fruit of 2009 and the structure
of 2008. I suppose that is as good a thumbnail as any. Even though the weather
was far from ideal, the low crop load allowed the remaining fruit to achieve
full phenolic ripeness. The high percentage of shot berries resulted in high
skin to juice ratios, which is generally excellent for concentration, structure
and potential longevity. Moreover, since shot berries have little or no seeds,
the quality of the fruit and tannin is remarkably elegant. There is no question
the wines have tremendous transparency to site. At the lower end, quality can
be irregular, reflecting the inconsistent quality of village and regional level
vineyards. Moving up the hierarchy of sites, the best 1er Crus are terrific,
while the finest Grand Crus are more than deserving of their exalted status.
The most successful 2010s are nothing less than thrilling.

Now for the bad news. Because of the poor weather, yields
were down 30-50% on average, so supply of the wines is very limited. With the
exception of the most coveted wines, in most vintages there is some
availability in the marketplace once the initial hype of the new vintage dies
down. Given the minuscule production of the 2010s, this is one vintage where
readers will want to snap up the wines as soon as they become available. As the
old adage says, there will always be another great vintage, but if 2010 holds
special meaning for personal reasons, my suggestion is to move quickly, which
is exactly what I plan to do. I also feel compelled to warn readers to rely
only on merchants with a strong track record of delivering wine. As explained
above, yields are down significantly, which means allocations will also be cut
sharply across the board.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1378416104723-2010Burgundy+-+Copy.jpg"> Above:&nbsp;Clos Saint-Jacques, Gevrey-Chambertin

The Million Dollar Question

So, is 2010 a better vintage than 2009? The answers is it
depends. In terms of consistency from top to bottom the edge goes to 2009. This
is especially true among entry-level wines, a part of the hierarchy that
remains one of the true virtues of 2009. Once you start getting into the better
1er Crus and Grand Crus in most cases my preference is for the 2010s because
the wines have more energy, vitality and site-specific expression. That said,
the finest 2009s remain super-impressive, as noted below. Faced with two
vintages of this overall level of quality, it really comes down to personal
taste. For what it is worth, I tend to choose domaine first and vintage second
when the vintages are of approximately the same level of quality.

Vintage 2009 Revisited

I had the opportunity to taste several hundred 2009s from
bottle during my most recent two week trip in November/December 2011. Those
wines will be reviewed in my April article. For now, let me just say that many
of the top wines have turned out as good or better than I expected. I was
pleasantly surprised to see a number of the top wines beginning to shut down in
bottle, which is a very good sign for the potential longevity. The best growers
captured the radiance of the year and also maintained the freshness the wines
need to age well for years and decades. One of the criticisms of the 2009s is
that the wines don’t show a lot of site-specific character. My tastings suggest
that, in fact, they do, but that it will take time before those subtleties
emerge fully.

A Word on Pricing

One of the most troubling topics that came up constantly
during my November trip was pricing. For years most of the eye- popping prices
for top Burgundies have been generated in the marketplace, which is to say
ex-cellar, or once certain prized wines are in the distribution chain. In other
words, ex-cellar pricing is not the real source of the huge price increases
consumers are seeing for certain wines. It is quite clear there are a number of
domaines that are hell-bent on taking prices to the moon as soon as quickly as
possible. These producers look at the prices of first-growth Bordeaux,
especially over the last few years, and conclude that they, rather than the
trade, are entitled to those margins. The other end of the spectrum is full of
conscientious producers who actually care about who is buying and drinking
their wines. These producers want their wines to get into the hands of people
who appreciate the labor

of love that goes into every bottle, rather than to just the
highest bidder. The problem is that Grand Cru Burgundy, especially from top
domaines, is now affordable only by a small number of very wealthy consumers
around the world. I am not sure I know what the solution is, or if there is a
solution. What is quite obvious is that the supply of the best wines from
Burgundy is far too small to satisfy the thirst of the world’s consumers. When
– and it is when, not if – consumers in emerging markets, Asia in particular,
discover Burgundy in a big way, today’s prices will look downright cheap.

The good news is that this distortion of pricing is only
happening among the most coveted wines, for now. Once you move into 1er Cru
wines and below from anything less than rock star producers, Burgundy remains a
very tough sell in the marketplace. A number of producers and their importers
were not ready to provide pricing yet on the 2010s. Why? Because there is still
an enormous amount of unsold wine in the pipeline. That includes the 2009s. For
all we heard about massive demand for the 2009s and the wines being sold out
well in advance, that simply does not appear to be the case, again, with the
exception of the most highly sought domaines. The reality is that village level
wines sell through because they are affordable, while the Grand Crus sell
because of their fame and tiny production levels. Beyond that there is a
veritable ocean of great 1er Cru juice looking for a home. Savvy readers who
buy wines to drink them will find plenty of reasonably priced wine in the
marketplace, although it may take some work.

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