Sneak Peek at the 2024 Vintage in Burgundy

10/4/2024

Raj Vaidya

I spent the third week of September in Savigny-les-Beaune working the harvest with storied Domaine Simon Bize and thought I would share a few takeaways as a sneak peek at the nature of this harvest and the wines it is likely to produce.

2024’s crop is certainly one for the record books, but in an unfortunate sense. The quantities of grapes, specifically in Pinot Noir, were extremely tiny. The growing season started somewhat poorly with cold and rainy weather prevalent in the months of April and May, which caused major problems with flowering and subsequent fruit set. In the week I was picking grapes or processing fruit I rarely saw a truly full cluster, as the spotty flowering caused lean clusters which had lots of millerandage, or tiny berries. Often when cutting fruit in the vineyards I would pick a small cluster or two from one vine and then pass over two or three vines with zero fruit before finding the next cluster down the row. In Savigny for reds, Chisa Bize estimated that we harvested less than 20% of a normal crop. This turned out to be pretty good numbers for the region, as several vignerons in the Côte de Nuits have told me they’ve made less than 10% of normal crops in several places. For Chardonnay, it was also somewhat smaller, but not nearly as dire, with yields between 60 - 80% of normal, though the Corton-Charlemagne at Bize was probably smaller in yield, judging from my experience harvesting there.

The rest of the growing season was very rainy, causing pressure of rot and mildew which further reduced the crop. Sorting was super important this year, and at Bize there is a dedicated crew of Japanese ladies who come for harvest every year and are experts at sorting. For the most part, we did not see too much rotten fruit on the sorting table, those grape clusters which were really unhealthy were dropped on the ground in the vineyard by the pickers. But we did see a lot of partially dried up clusters, and had to trim many of the clusters to avoid having dried or botrytised fruit end up in the fermentation vats.

The sorting table at Bize

The Latricieres-Chambertin harvest was the most stark in its minimal volume, barely filling a tiny fermentation tank about halfway. Savigny 1er Cru Vergelesses was more plentiful thankfully, as this is one of the most important cuvées at Bize. Sadly, it will be the only 1er Cru with the parcel name bottled (in both white and red) as the Talmettes, Marconnets and Fourneaux were all blended to make one large tank of Savigny Premier Cru without a name.

Latricieres Chambertin harvest being loaded into its tiny Cuve.

Savigny 1er Cru blend, Marconnets, Fourneaux and Talmettes, all vinified together.

All in all I had a tremendous experience. The wines will surely be high quality despite the small amounts, and I’m sure it will be a light, easy to drink vintage without harsh tannins of ‘18 or high alcohols of ‘19 and ‘20. At Bize the totals were a little higher in production than ‘21, though at other domaines I visited while in the region the opposite was the case. I’ve heard from Didier Fornerol that 2024 (his last vintage as he’s set to retire) will have been his smallest harvest ever. I heard similar things from Ben Leroux, Jean-Marie Fourrier and Domaine Dujac. It is, of course, too early to tell as to the longevity of these wines; tasting them next summer and into winter 2026 will give us better perspective, I imagine. I look forward to tasting this fresh, vibrant and delicate vintage in the years to come!