A First Look at Burgundy's 2007 Vintage

Twenty years ago, a vintage like 2007 in Burgundy would have been a disaster. Lousy weather for much of June through late August tested growers' skill and patience. But a precocious April and warm, dry September, plus advances in vineyard management and meticulous sorting of the grapes, saved the year. After spending a week in the region in June 2008, I found much to admire from both the red and white wines.

This preliminary report is based on visits to 16 domaines and houses, mostly in the Côte d'Or, this past June. I tasted more than 200 samples of 2007s from barrel, tank or bottle. (The latter were samples drawn from tank after blending, but still unfinished wines.) In some cases, the wines had not yet finished their malolactic fermentations, in which hard malic acid is converted to softer lactic acid. Other wines were in varying stages of clarification. Thus, I did not rate individual wines, but rather sought an overall impression of the vintage.

The 2007 wines, both red and white, are typical Burgundies. They are pure expressions of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with lightness and elegance, the type of wines you expect from a northerly climate. Overall, I give the edge to the whites for their freshness and vibrant structures.

The vintage is potentially outstanding for the whites. I give it a preliminary rating of 88-91 points. The reds from the Côte de Nuits (87-90) have better overall balance and brightness than those of the Côte de Beaune (86-89), although I had some wonderful examples from Pommard.

I was visiting top-quality producers, so more variation may exist than what my experience indicates. As always, I plan to visit Burgundy again in January 2009, when the 2007s are nearly finished aging and some may already be bottled. And I will taste roughly 1,000 reds and whites, in bottle, once they have been shipped to the United States.

The year was more problematic for reds, with diligent sorting necessary in both the vineyards and cellars to provide the best possible fruit for the fermentations. As a result, the red wines appear to be tender and immediately appealing, with lovely fruit. "I like the '07s because of the purity of the fruit and balance. Like 2006, it will be charming and very typical Pinot Noir," said Romain Taupenot, who makes the wines at Domaine Taupenot-Merme in Morey-St.-Denis.

The grapes had a lot of malic acid in 2007, and the character of the wines, especially the reds, changed dramatically after the malolactic conversion. Claire Forestier, who started a négociant line called Terres d'Aromes with the 2007 harvest, echoed the comments of many in describing the wines after the malolactic and a few months aging. "Now the wines are gaining depth and color, a bit like 2002," she said. "It's not on the level of 2002, but the wines will gain depth and get better with age."

The more delicate character of the reds warranted less barrel aging than a concentrated, structured vintage like 2005; most will likely be bottled earlier than normal to retain the fresh fruit flavors. "If the reds had an early malolactic, there was no need to leave them in barrel," explained Gregory Patriat, wine maker at J.C. Boisset.

In 2007, yields were average for the whites, but lower for the reds. Unripe and rotten grapes had to be discarded, and a north wind in September dried out and concentrated the remainder of the Pinot Noir crop, reducing volume. Thus, it was more expensive to get fewer decent grapes, so don't expect any relief on pricing for the 2007s.

The price of grapes has been increasing in Burgundy since the 2005 vintage. The cost of white grapes in 2007 was up 5 percent to 10 percent from 2006, and for red grapes up 15 percent to 20 percent. Producers are also paying more for bottles (a 5 percent to 8 percent increase) and corks (up 5 percent).

"The 2007s have not been priced by suppliers [in Burgundy], but discussions indicate that prices per bottle in euros will remain around the same level as the 2006s," said John Winthrop, chairman and CEO of Veritas Imports, based in Los Angeles. "The prices of the '06s are in general the same [or a bit higher] than the '05s due to the fall of the dollar. Quantities will be 30 percent less on average, so pressure will probably build toward higher prices, especially if the '06s sell through."

If the 2007s are typical in character, the growing season didn't start out that way. April was hot, with temperatures more typical of July, advancing the vines by almost a month. Normally, during June, the flowering has begun or just finished; when I was there in mid-June 2007, the clusters were already well-formed.

Then, a temperature inversion gripped the region, resulting in cold, wet and unstable, stormy weather. The ripening process slowed dramatically. What was originally forecast to be an August harvest, like 2003, was delayed with each cold, rainy week. "We had probably only three nights all summer where we could sit outside and enjoy the weather," said négociant Alex Gambal.

Just when the harvest looked like a washout, the weather changed in the fourth week of August. A north wind brought four weeks of sun, warmth and dry weather, enough to save the crop.

Unlike 2006, when the Chardonnay ripened quickly and it was necessary to harvest both early and rapidly, the key in 2007 was patience. Most growers I visited waited at least until after the first week of September to harvest their Chardonnay and picked it later than the Pinot Noir. "The people who harvested their whites late have the possibility to make some excellent wines, capable of aging," said Michel Morey, proprietor of Domaine Morey-Coffinet in Chassagne.

"For our Puligny, we pushed the harvest back 10 days and got another degree and a half [potential alcohol]," noted Gambal. In the cellar, the whites posed less of a problem than the reds. The Pinot vineyards suffered from uneven ripeness and rot. "In 2007, the yields were really low for the reds," reported Carel Voorhuis, estate manager at Domaine d'Ardhuy. "In Clos des Langres, for example, we lost about 25 percent [of red grapes] on the sorting table."

In the end, the conscientious growers and négociants made tasty wines. However, it took skilled vineyard management and discipline in the cellar to select the best raw material. Above all, the successful vintners had nerves of steel and patience. "We had seen everything through the summer—mildew, powdery mildew and rot—by the time the good weather hit in September," recalled consulting winemaker Pascal Marchand. “People panicked and started to harvest when the weather forecast was for a north wind, and we know the north wind kills rot."

Those that waited and sorted diligently will have some appealing white and red Burgundies for immediate enjoyment.




— Bruce Sanderson