Climate change and Burgundy

Finally an article on Climate change, burgundy and the static map of vineyard hierarchy in a dynamic world.

https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2020/06/climate-the-latest-challenge-for-burgundy

“But in the decades to come, the terms ‘grand Cru’ and ‘Bonne-Mares’ might not be worth the paper they’re printed on.”

I don’t think its decades, its right now: with vintages like 2018, 2019 and dare I say 2015.

I am about to start a series of zoom webinars on this, taking a look at various different parts of Burgundy week by week (starting this Saturday 11am EST / 8am PST) to try to tease out vineyards or villages that might be rising or falling in potential with global warming, as well as looking at producers on the way up. If of interest, have a look at www.insideburgundy.com.

Really great article.

Sounds like it’s a good idea to load the boat with 1999, 2002, 2005.

Change is good. It may create some overpriced wines but it also creates underpriced wines as ripeness increases for less expensive wines from vineyards that previously had a hard time getting ripe. Historically, it was the ripest vintages that got the press and that often is still the case. But, that leaves better values in the less ripe and more balanced vintages. Change is good.

The real question is: will the Cote de Beaune ever outshine the Cote de Nuits? [popcorn.gif]

Ever is a long time, but my thought is probably not. There is continued improvement from the cdb, and individual sites are fantastic, but I don’t see that happening. What will happen is continued improvement from places like the Haut Cote de Nuits and Cote de challonaise.

Michael, I have been to the hautes cotes a few times (beautiful to bike!) and I can understand the impact of climate on the vineyards there.

I have however never been to Cote Chalonnaise - is the recent increase in quality (based on my limited experience) really due to climate change, or just due to the fact that you have more producers paying attention to quality?

Probably both. The biggest issue is getting ripeness from some sites.

Looking forward to it Jasper! Will there be a playback?

Its silly to have a rigid, static, hierarchical structure when the world is changing quickly and rapidly. I wonder what will it take for the vineyard maps to be redrawn? At what climatic condition will some of the grand cru’s no longer be grand?

I suppose never :slight_smile:

I am with you. I’m happy to buy Bourgognes and village wines from producers I adore. Easy pass on some of the GCs at over the top ripeness levels and prices to match!

I have wondered if wines from villages higher up like St. Aubin will be more prized in the future. Also, I have really been enjoying reds the last several years from Chassagne Montrachet. Is this climate change or my former ignorance (or both).

Top wines from producers like d’Angerville, Lafon, Lafarge, etc., probably already outshine 90% of the wines from the Cote de Nuits.

Howard, many know that Chassagne was caught up in the chardonnay wave of the 70s.

Sticking within CdN, those cool winds which were a negative for centuries are now a positive! Perhaps Lavaux and Estournelles are at an advantage over CSJ and Cazateiers.

Same can be said for Gevrey Combottes vs Chambertin (Beze); Suchots vs Richebourg.

These are conversations we need to have and I’m glad Jasper is starting to!

Howard, it is at least partly that there has been a growing understanding that red Chassagne can be good from the right producers in the parts of Chassagne suited to red (most of it!) but only where they have the right pinot material which is alas quite rare in that part of the Cote.

Jasper,
Are you saying that Chassagne Red (or Rouge as your friends say), could be a lot better if the vineyards were planted with better clonal material and rootstock??
Now, would that count as terroir or winemaking??

My hypothesis would be that as the planet gets warmer the better Pinot vineyards will be found further north, not where Chardonnay flourishes in the Cote de Beaune.
The Lafarges should be buying land in Irancy, not Beaujolais.

This is a very interesting question, or set of questions, but as yet I don’t think there are any simple answers. The grands crus have historically been the most hydrologically buffered as well as the warmest: they have better access to water than premiers crus with shallower soils further up the slope. Since hot vintages are also generally dry vintages, this is significant.

And then there’s the huge genetic diversity of Pinot Noir: Roederer in Champagne have precocious massale selections that ripen three weeks before later-ripening selections; understandably, they are favoring the latter for replanting, whereas a lot of historic planting decisions in Champagne were predicated on achieving maximum ripeness in a cooler climate. Mutatis mutants, the same applies to the Côte d’Or. Chardonnay isn’t as varied so I worry more for white Burgundy: there could be a strong argument for allowing a certain percentage of other varieties, as was historically the case—Aligoté, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Auxerrois etc—and as is still permitted in e.g. Savigny-lès-Beaune. Some of this still exists: one famous grower in the Côte de Beaune still has a half-hectare of Pinot Blanc in a prime appellation! Rootstocks are also part of the equation.

But there’s a lot that can be done in terms of viticulture, too. Letting canopies grow higher without hedging; maintaining cover crops year-round. Even in 2018, Charles Lachaux in Vosne didn’t have a single wine above 13% alcohol (btw Mel, I tasted Irancy 2018s with >15% so I’m not sure the Lafarge family should necessarily take your advice).

One thing that really surprised me is that in the 2019 vintage, which had hotter heat spikes than 2018 and less rain during the growing season, resulted in wines with lower pHs and (at least based on what I have tasted, as well as what I vinified myself) finer tannins. Also very healthy must nitrogen levels. That is the opposite of what one would have expected. Yet Burgundy was celebrated for Pinot Noir during the Mediaeval Warm Period, after all…

I’ve had a soft spot from Irancy since I sold 400 cs of a '76.

One sign of global warming is the winemaking scene in the UK. They are making excellent sparkling wine. Are Pinot and Syrah next or did I miss that memo??

Agreed.

Right now, IMHO we are in a golden age of red Burgundy. Producers know more than ever about how to grow great grapes and make great wine from them. There are many fewer bad vintages than ever before. The biggest issues really have been frost and hail over the past decade keeping yields way down. Look at how few vintages have been poor or even what would have historically been considered average since say 1996!!! Contrast with say the 1970s. Yes, climate change is a concern for the future and for some vintages now, but right now there are a huge number of great wines being made.

The one negative is pricing. And, IMHO that is at least in part the “fault” of people like Jasper and William (and Allen Meadows, John Gilman, etc.). Historically, a lot of wine lovers have been scared away from Burgundy because of the inconsistency. But now, because of people like the above, the information on Burgundy is better than ever. Combine this with the great wines being made and the greater consistency of the wines being made, more and more people are becoming confident about the quality of Burgundy and are voting with their dollars, euros, etc.

Now if something could be done about premox in whites.

A quick post to add some flavour to this. I was skimming through wine-related posts on facebook when I came across this one by Buisson-Charles in Meursault (Patrick Essa) from 5 June:

The vines are mostly in good health even if we have to observe here and there chlorosis spots a little more marked than last year and if the tylosis (dieback) of the rootstocks 161 planted recently is not a vision spirit. Some areas planted in the past ten years have even been hit hard and the only solution seems to be uprooting. Fortunately in the field we are very little affected by this phenomenon even if we remain vigilant. Thank you the old vines! With such a mild weather that excludes hot weather and cold at night, the diseases are somewhat “dormant” but obviously the risk lurks. We have therefore extended the time between treatments and limited the use of copper which is not really necessary at the moment. No trace of downy mildew or powdery mildew.”

I had never heard about tylosis before. This got me to send a message to a vigneron known to do quality vineyard work in Gevrey. He sent me the following answer and pictures on 7 July. Again a potential example of direct climate change impact. Although they still seem to be figuring out the cause.

The vines are beautiful and for the moment do not suffer from the dry, it rains from time to time and the temperatures are correct. Indeed this year there are many plots which do not really grow well. We think that it comes from a rootstock which should not bear too much the heat and dryness of previous years (it is an intuition, to see over several years) Fortunately we do not have this rootstock on our domain. I’m sending you 2 photos taken this morning in the vines at Gevrey from other winegrowers. Good day and hello to the whole family.”
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I will be in the cote de nuits in the first week of August, so might have a look myself.