2010 is a wonderful example of less is more. Less wine, more quality. Both the reds and whites are, quite simply, stunning; there just isn’t very much of them. Yields are down anywhere between 10 and 60% depending in which village and in which cellar you are tasting. An astonishing cold snap in the second half of December 2009 which would no doubt have bought the UK to a standstill, was the prime culprit. Before the sap had descended into winter hibernation, the temperature suddenly dropped from zero to -21 (or -24 depending on who you talk to!) around the 19th December. The vines were totally unprepared for this remarkable plummet and for many this would be their last winter as a result. Those that survived were much less productive than usual. Flowering was inconsistent, early summer was very dry and there was a lot of millanderage (small berries packed full of concentration).
Harvesting began around the 14th September for some, although several days later for others. Picking dates, as ever, were important, although grape maturation dates seems to have been very specific to individual domaines and those that picked later didn’t necessarily wait too long.
White Wines
There have been some very good white wines vintage recently, such as 2007 and 2008, but this is something very special. The best wines have extraordinary natural concentration. Not a lumbering richness but a vibrant, mineral, pure concentration with wonderful dry extract and matiere. It is surely the best vintage since 2000 with some truly exemplary wines on offer.
Red Wines
As a company we pushed 2008 quite hard as we rated it highly. The wines were not easy to acess in their early barrel days but the weeks leading up to Christmas 2009 saw them show signs of life and real quality. We were convinced that they were very good indeed. Despite initial reticence by the UK press and a general reluctance to embrace the vintage, especially with the hyped 2009 on the horizon, it seems that the tide has turned and the majority of people are now with us. Everything we have tasted since has merely confirmed our initial thoughts and even alongside the 2009s we remain certain that these are must have wines. Not much more needs to be said about the luscious 2009s, which enjoyed a hype only previously matched by the 2005s. So when we say we think this vintage is better than both its predecessors then you’ll understand just how good we think it is.
They are cool, fresh, aromatic, ripe, pure, concentrated, energetic, terroir-driven, balanced, with very fine tannins and lovely grip and length. Certain wines begged the question ‘what could improve this?’ and it was hard to conjure up a conclusive response. There are immaculate wines in both the Cote de Beaune and the Cote de Nuits and no one village seems to have flourished particularly more than any other so feel free to buy with gay abandon.
