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2016 Burgundy En Primeur

Any commentary on the 2016 vintage in Burgundy is necessarily dominated by one catastrophic event: the frost which caused such devastation on the morning of Wednesday 27th April.  After a mild winter there was already concern that the growing cycle would begin early.  Fortunately, cooler weather in March kept things more or less normal.  But on the night of 26th/27th April, temperatures fell below zero and, most seriously of all, the day dawned clear and bright.  What made the damage so severe was not the intensity of the frost (no more than 2.5-3 degrees below zero) but the morning sun hitting the frozen buds.  The ice somehow magnifies the sun’s rays, and the almost instant thaw causes the fragile cells in the young shoots to burst.  Céline Fontaine told us that she was in the vines as the sun came up, and in the space of 40 minutes watched everything that was exposed to the sun turn black.  Even the undamaged vines took a month to recover from the shock, and flowering was consequently late.  This was exacerbated by higher than average rainfall throughout April, May and June.  From early July however, the weather improved significantly, and the remainder of the summer passed uneventfully, with above average hours of sun recorded in July, August and September.  A particularly hot spell at the beginning of September was especially welcome as it concentrated the juice in the berries.  Picking of the crop – very small where frost damage was bad, and paradoxically relatively abundant where there was no frost damage – took place in excellent conditions.  The wines are full of appeal to lovers of classic Burgundy – with marvellous aromatics, great finesse, and very good expression of terroir.  The sharp eyed will notice two domaines absent from our list, with both of which we have worked without break for more than 20 years.  Domaine Arnoux Lachaux has altered its commercial arrangements in the UK, and its wines will be offered later in the year.  And after several years of threats, Daniel Bocquenet has retired, selling all his 2016 fruit to a négociant.  We will miss his Nuits Aux St Julien and his Echézeaux very much – they have brought great pleasure to Burgundy lovers for many years – and we wish him a long and happy retirement.

2016 Rhone En Primeur

If 2015 vintage was outstanding in the Northern Rhône and very good in the Southern Rhône, then the situation is reversed for 2016 vintage, which was widely described by growers in the South – Charvin in particular – as one of the best they had seen.  And in the north, as one grower put it, “after 2015 vintage, when nature was particularly generous, 2016 offers us a beautiful winemaker vintage…”.  2016 certainly offers us a timely reminder that the two halves of the Rhône Valley are quite distinct, and often have sharply varying weather patterns.  In the North, following an unusually mild winter, the growing season started early – so when there was a nasty hail storm on 17th April, significant damage was caused in Hermitage and Crozes vineyards.  Flowering took place in good conditions, but was followed by cooler and wetter weather than average in June and July, and some problems with mildew as a result.  However, August was hot and early September even hotter, and totally dry – so rain was desperately needed to kick-start the ripening in mid-September.  This fortunately arrived, and grapes were harvested in excellent condition and very good levels of ripeness.

In the South, the vintage is an outstanding one.  As in the North, the winter was mild and the growing season began early.  A cool and windy March held things nicely in check, and there was neither frost nor hail to cause any damage during the delicate months of March and April.  The weather at the end of May and beginning of June was perfect for flowering – though some vineyards with more exposure to the Mistral suffered some coulure.  Summer was hot, particularly late August and early September, with wide variation between the very hot days and the comparatively cool nights.  The fruit ripened slowly and steadily, maintaining a particularly fine balance between aromatics, sugars and acidities.  The little rain that fell just before the harvest provided a welcome break from the unusually dry summer, and helped bring the final burst of maturity.  As Daniel Brunier of Vieux Télégraphe puts it: “the vintage is characterised by a superb balance of richness and freshness, and between high maturity and attractive acidity, which is fairly rare – very rare, even – in the southern Rhône Valley.”

2016 Bordeaux En Primeur

It is still possible to buy some of the fabulous Bordeaux 2016s en primeur.  We have a small selection of wines available, and others can still be obtained.  Do contact us for details:

Telephone: 020 8747 2069

Email: tia@clarionwines.co.uk

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