As our team arrived in Saint-Emilion under sunny skies to start our annual en primeur pilgrimage, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the mood in the camp was somewhat apprehensive. Ever since the end of the Burgundy campaign, like every spring, the spotlight turns to Bordeaux and the press surrounding the 2024 vintage has been somewhat pessimistic – with a backdrop marked by talk of tariffs in the US, falling prices and the eternal question of en primeur as a viable mechanism for distribution today.  I find so often that – at primeurs – vintages are reduced to generalisations that never do justice to the region’s diverse terroir. This being my eighth campaign, I remind myself every year that this week is so much more than just an opportunity to taste the latest vintage. It’s a chance to spend time with those behind the barrels and to hear their story, for producers to share their insight on the vintage first hand. With over 50 visits booked, there was plenty for us to get our teeth into before we could draw any meaningful conclusions. Our first visit of the week was at Cheval Blanc – and it provided an excellent first litmus test in determining the quality of the vintage. Technical Director Pierre-Olivier Clouet highlighted the challenges brought by the sheer quantity of rainfall in what was one of the wettest winters for the region since records began. And the widespread rainfall – from the autumn of 2023 onwards – was the start of a series of challenges that would test even the most experienced of winemakers. After just our first morning of tasting, we could see that the 2024 vintage was throwing up a level of heterogeneity and diversity not seen in more recent, solar vintages such as 2022 and 2023. Challenges including mildew, uneven flowering, poor fruit-set and botrytis could be treated any number of ways with varying levels of success – the results of which were fascinating. Our full vintage report, due next week, will look more closely at the conditions of the year, producers’ reactions and the style of the wines. But, from our tastings across the Right Bank, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality on show in amongst the variety. The best wines of Saint-Emilion and Pomerol seem to have favoured a later harvest, risking losing fruit as they waited for phenolic ripeness. Many of our favourites have wonderfully lifted aromatics that are both expressive and concentrated – balancing the Merlot’s juicy fruit against the Cabernet’s texture and structure. This year, we spent just under two weeks in Bordeaux – our longest en primeur tasting trip to date. This allowed us to fit in a couple of extra visits into our tightly packed program. One of these was at Guillot Clauzel, a tiny two-hectare property nestled in Pomerol just a stone’s throw from Le Pin, and under the guidance of winemaker Guillaume Thienpont since 2018. Our visit highlighted that it was clearly possible to make excellent wines in 2024 regardless of price point or scale. The same is true on the Left Bank. In a year where the resilience of the Cabernet shone through, the best wines are quite classical. There’s impressive purity to the fruit on the mid-palate coupled with a backbone of acidity that brings length and drive. Saint-Estèphe and Pauillac seem to have been particularly challenging, with more mixed results (but some unashamed stars – just look at Montrose), while Saint-Julien, once again, offers a more consistent stable. Margaux and Pessac-Léognan’s lighter styles perhaps align best with the vintage’s natural style, and there are some particularly promising wines here. (While rarely a focus, it’s worth highlighting the quality of some of the whites this year too.) There is no year that we can remember in which it has been so important to get boots on the ground and taste en primeur – and taking the time to talk with producers to understand the specifics of the vintage. Producers have come to expect an unrivalled level of questioning when our team shows up. Now that the dust has settled, we can put our spittoons (and notebooks) away and take stock over the Easter weekend. We expect a steady stream of releases to start from as early as Tuesday next week with Batailley and Pontet-Canet set for 22nd and 23rd, respectively. Whatever the campaign has in store for us, we know that 2024 is a year to be selective. Consumers willing look past any pre-conceived ideas about the vintage will be rewarded. Keep an eye out for our full report, set to be published next week, as well as the very first releases

With teeth still wine-stained, our team is returning from almost two weeks tasting Bordeaux 2024 en primeur. Ahead of the very first releases and our full report on the vintage, our Bordeaux Buyer Hector Howes offers some early thoughts on the year – and why it deserved our longest trip to date

After almost two weeks in the region, Bordeaux Buyer Hector Howes offers his initial thoughts on the Bordeaux 2024 vintage and the wines it produced

Bordeaux 2024 en primeur – first thoughts on the vintage

Bordeaux 2024: first thoughts

Wine Advocate – William Kelley 
There was such demand for Kelley’s official report on the vintage that the Wine Advocate site momentarily crashed under the pressure. He tasted the wines over three months in the region – September to November. For him, 2019 is “a thrilling year for Pinot Noir, delivering wines bursting with head-turning perfume and fresh, succulent fruit… simultaneously serious and immensely charming”. Despite the high sugar levels in the grapes, “the wines’ fruit tones are bright and lively, with a considerable floral nuance and none of the roasted, overripe aromas that one fears in warm, sunny years”. He considers them a combination of 2015 and 2017 in style, not dissimilar to 1964.

He finds the whites “more heterogenous”, however, “the year’s best white Burgundies are as incisive as they are powerful”. He notes that producers have much more experience in handling warmer vintages than they did a decade ago – and the best knew how important a picking date was in a year like 2019. “In the hands of the region’s most skillful producers,” he says, “the results are compelling.” He feels the vintage shares characters with 2012, 2017 and 2015 – being similar in style to the 1989s.  Overall, however, Kelley feels it’s “a superb vintage”, with “wines that all Burgundy lovers are going to want to secure for their cellars”. Read Kelley’s early thoughts on the vintage, published on our site; or read his full report on the Wine Advocate (subscribers only) Vinous – Neal Martin 
Neal Martin managed to spend just over a month in the region this autumn, packing in as many visits as possible (accruing over 2,500 tasting notes). He emphasises that when growers picked was “fundamental to success”, but feels the vintage is “an excellent amplifier” – maintaining “a clear and balanced sound, even when turned up to 11”; with everything, including the acidity, concentrated in the wines.  

He found the whites offered freshness and richness, noting that these are not fat or buttery wines, with subtlety to the fruit. He highlights the value of Saint-Aubin, while noting that “the greatest pleasure derived from Bâtard-Montrachet or Bienvenue-Bâtard-Montrachet”. In Meursault, he highlights the strength of single-vineyard village wines, but feels Premier Cru Perrières really excelled, just edging ahead of Charmes and Genevrières. For Martin, the whites of Saint-Romain shone, its altitude a benefit in the warm vintage. As for the reds of the Côte de Beaune, he points to Pommard as an appellation to watch, while noting how under-rated the wines of Beaune are – and that the village excelled in 2019, suggesting readers “fill [their] boots”. He also recommends keeping an eye on Savigny-lès-Beaune, while Pernand-Vergelesses, with its pretty wines, “could be the dark horse in 2019”.  In general, the reds have “expressive, at times almost flamboyant aromatics”, and are “often utterly seductive”. Despite the warmth of the year, however, “It is remarkable, almost irrational, how the finest 2019s maintain detail, clarity and tension and sapid finishes,” he writes. While approachable, they “have the balance and substance to repay cellaring”. For him, Nuits-Saint-Georges excelled, particularly the Premiers Crus in the north of the appellation (such as Aux Murgers and Boudots). Vosne-Romanée produced “many fabulous wines” across the quality spectrum, while Chambolle-Musigny produced some typically “sublime” 2019s. Of all the region’s Grands Crus, however, Clos de Vougeot stood out in 2019 – with more consistency and some real highlights. Change is a foot in Morey-Saint-Denis and Martin highlights how much money is being poured into the village. Clos Saint-Denis seemed to have particularly thrived in the vintage. In Gevrey, he highlights Chapelle-Chambertin and Lavaux-Saint-Jacques, while noting the village wines are the best in the entire Côte d’Or. Overall, “I love the 2019 vintage for both whites and reds,” Martin says – although he is keen to retaste the wines in bottle to see whether 2019 sits alongside vintages such as 2005, 2010 or 2015, which – he feels – it might. Read the full report (available to Vinous subscribers only) here: part one (Côte de Beaune) and part two (Côte de Nuits) 
Burghound – Allen Meadows Meadows, like most others, notes the dichotomy of 2019: “No one, at least no one that I spoke with, seems to understand how a blazing hot and exceeding dry growing season produced such beautiful wines, be they red or white.” He found the acidity levels to be “pretty much textbook”, the wines “energetic, crisp and delineated”, showing “beguiling typicity”. Overall “there isn’t much to bemoan in 2019,” he says – besides the volumes, and there are some “genuinely superb wines”. The whites are “ripe yet very fresh… at once concentrated, powerful, serious and for the most part well-balanced”. Picking dates were key though, and some he finds a little exotic or lacking in acid balance. He finds the reds more consistent, “fresh, ripe, dense, serious and concentrated”. While they have “impressive density and firm structures, they do not lack for finesse or refinement,” he notes. He finds the combination of terroir transparency, ripeness and freshness makes for a “potently seductive combination”, and “they certainly do not lack for potential longevity”. Meadows is most impressed that “the signature of the vintage does not overshadow the intricacies of each terroir” – and he believes “it would be a significant mistake to pass on them”. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule – and he says that there are some wines that are too ripe, some with volatile acidity and some a little alcoholic; it is however “definitely more consistent than 2018”. He compares the wines to a cross between 2009 and 2010, having “the richness and generosity of the former with the finesse, punch and gorgeous terroir definition of the latter”. He delves further back though, comparing it to 1966 or 1949 – the latter one of the greats of the 20th century. In terms of ageing, he suggests as a general guide that “very good 2019 villages should be singing at age 10, a good premier cru between 12 and 15 years and the bulk of the grands crus between 15 and 20”. Read his full report, notes and scores on Burghound (subscribers only) Inside Burgundy – Jasper Morris MW 
Jasper Morris MW offers a typically detailed breakdown of the year, its growing conditions and producers’ approaches. He finds the Côte de Beaune whites concentrated but with good acidity, occasionally “taken out of their natural typicity by the style of the vintage” – however these are very much in the minority. For him, the aromas are typical of a ripe year – peaches, honeysuckle and ripe, yellow plum. As for the reds: it is “close to being a great vintage for the red wines of the Côte de Nuits”, with the year less variable than 2018 and “many wonderful wines”. In the Côte de Beaune he finds they are less exaggerated and extreme in style. “The Pinot has put away the ballet shoes and taken to the athletics tracks,” he says. He steers clear of declaring it a “truly great”
vintage because of this – feeling that the warmth of the vintage means that it simply may not be to everyone’s tastes. He particularly highlights the success of Morey-Saint-Denis in 2019, something he attributes to its extra dose of rain in August. Read the full reports on Inside Burgundy (subscribers only) Explore more Editorial 



The world’s leading wine critics have spoken, and their verdict on Burgundy 2019 is in. No one was short of something to say about the fascinating year. Here, we round-up what they said about the vintage

What the leading wine critics Burghound Allen Meadows, Vinous's Neal Martin and Wine Advocate's William Kelley are saying about the 2019 Burgundy vintage

Burgundy 2019 critics' verdict

Burgundy 2019: the critics' verdict

It is hard to imagine The Balvenie without David Stewart MBE and vice versa. The story of each one is so entwined with the other that it’s nigh on impossible to unpick where one starts and the other ends. Since joining William Grant & Sons in 1962 as a whisky stocks clerk, Stewart has gone on to become of the most well-known and respected names in the Scotch whisky industry. He is, for many, the pioneer of cask finishing, and his achievements are far too numerous to list. When the incredibly humble man “hangs up his boots” after a 57-year-plus career, Kelsey McKechnie will become the youngest-ever female Malt Master. “Everyone always jokes and says do I feel the pressure and what does it feel like getting into a role like this. There definitely is an element of pressure around it but it’s funny, you really don’t feel it. I enjoy this role and I love being here. I’ve been very lucky, so I’m saying ‘let’s ride it out for as long as we can’,” the 29-year-old says with unfettered excitement. The Malt Master role is a very different one today than it was in the 1960s, something McKechnie and William Grant & Sons Master Blender Brian Kinsman continually rib Stewart about. “Obviously, way back in the ’60s we had very little to nose,” Stewart says in a flash. When he joined the family-owned business under Master Blender and Balvenie Malt Master Hamish Robertson, Glenfiddich and The Balvenie weren’t being bottled as single malts and Grant’s Standfast blend was the company’s bread and butter. Today, the triumvirate nose samples from Ailsa Bay, Girvan Distillery, Kininvie, Glenfiddich and The Balvenie. From the new-make spirit to mature samples, bottling runs to all the vat samples, everything produced at the William Grant distilleries in Scotland and Ireland passes under the noses of Kinsman, McKechnie and Stewart. This equates to approximately 40-50 Scotch, Irish whiskey, Bourbon and rum samples per day. There are a number of parallels in Stewart and McKechnie’s stories, which they don’t even seem to realise. Both started in very different roles and eyed an interesting opportunity to nose spirits. Through serendipity and, one suspects, a tremendous amount of inherent skill and hard graft, the two found their way into the nosing lab. And once faced with row upon row of whisky samples, the pair knew in an instant that they found their calling. “I always say I have been very lucky,” McKechnie says. “I’m such a firm believer in timing. I came into the team at a time when I had built up enough technical process skills to understand how whisky is produced and carry out analysis, and do all these different things and apply it to blending.” In 2018, Kinsman and Stewart approached 26-year-old McKechnie to ask if she would be interested in learning all things regarding Balvenie and eventually moving into the Malt Master role. She’d been with the company for almost four years at this time, working her way from the lab to the whisky stocks team, from the Lowlands to the beating heart of the business in Speyside. So, what does it take to become a Malt Master and what did the two whisky patriarchs see in the young female scientist at the infancy of her whisky career? According to Stewart, one of the biggest things is the nosing aspect. “We can identify what’s right and what’s not, just by nosing the whisky,” he says. “And that’s what takes the time to learn.” Stewart had already been through the process of training a successor with Brian Kinsman from 2001 to 2010. It might be hard for some to fathom why this apprenticeship takes the best part of a decade, but so much of the role is about instinct and the finest of margins. In the same way Robertson brought in samples for Stewart – albeit not quite as many – all those years before, Stewart to this day brings in spirit samples for Kinsman and McKechnie. “Really, it’s nosing together; pointing out things,” Stewart adds. “I bring in samples from different cask types and different ages. Brian just worked with me and gradually he took over and I was doing less and less.” When asked if she thinks she has a natural gift, McKechnie says it’s curiosity above anything else that’s required to be a good noser. “I think everybody just needs to be curious enough to want to nose. Most often – apart from a few people where it is genetic and there’s one reason or another that they don’t have a sense of smell – I actually think so many people will be fantastic nosers.” And the difference between Joe Bloggs and the youngest-ever female Malt Master? The word association piece, according to McKechnie. “So often we’ll see when people are starting up that they can nose something and they can say ‘this is different’. So we do difference nosing. We have one glass and we’re just nosing it against another and saying ‘pick up the difference or not’ – it’s often easy for people but they can’t put into play what they can pick up.” Like any other skill, McKechnie says it takes years of practice and fine tuning. “It’s like using a different language,” she says. “To remain fluent, you need to continually keep nosing and to be able to relate those words to what you’re picking up in nose and taste. I actually think everyone has a gift, if that’s what you want to call it, or the ability to do it. It’s just about really working out what flavour this is and what do we call it.” Sometimes tasting notes for spirits and wines can be a little, shall we say, creative. For this reason, at William Grant & Sons, free words are banned. “We’re really strict about what people can call the different spirits,” McKechnie explains. “It could be too easy for somebody to say ‘this smells like a walk in the park’ and we can find ourselves in a bit of a pickle.” When starting out, as a professional or merely an appreciator of spirits, this word association piece can be a barrier, according to McKechnie, but it shouldn’t be. “There is no need for whisky to be intimidating at all,” she says. “For me, I think it’s because people are so passionate about it. It gets everyone a little bit puffed up – I’m guilty of it as well. But there really is no need for it at all because it really is such an open area that there isn’t one strict answer so I’ll always say that to people – if you are new to it, make sure you get lots of water in there because whisky is just such a flavour bomb. I think people don’t really know what they’re nosing because there are 50-100 different flavours coming at you at once.” So, do the three professional nosers ever disagree? “Because I’ve only ever learned to nose and blend from David who has learned from Brian and vice versa, we don’t often butt heads or have a difference of opinion –  but it does happen,” McKechnie says with a coy smile. Rather than being daunted by the spectre of the longest-serving Malt Master and Kinsman – who has racked up a fairly daunting 24 years in role – McKechnie seems energised by the legacy and is visibly thrilled at the prospect of one day imparting this knowledge to her own apprentice. “I think it would be a massive compliment to be able to give someone the knowledge you have gained,” she says. “I really like the thought of actually one day being able to train someone.” When it comes to the future at The Balvenie, McKechnie says they have “many things bubbling away in the warehouses” and they have “a few more Balvenies tucked up our sleeves”. But, on a personal note, “it’s working with Brian and David day-in-day-out and gaining more of the understanding about what makes Balvenie so unique. Understanding more around the stock model and that 50-year horizon and ensuring that I’ve got the skills to make sure the next 50 years is looking good and that we’re not laying down all the wrong things.” The Balvenie maintains a lot of the traditional whisky-making traditions. It is the only Scotch whisky distillery to grow its own barley, use traditional floor maltings and keep coppersmiths and coopers on site. Rather than being gilded handcuffs, these ties to traditions allow the team to experiment at the point of distillation and Stewart has spearheaded a number of trials that have come from the maltings throughout his career. “I think if there is one thing that David has ever taught me, it’s about how important innovation is,” McKechnie says. “We always talk about the fact we’re the home of cask finishing. It was something that was second nature in David’s role until people started calling it innovation. “And it’s something that we always want to pass on. We’re constantly thinking about what’s next and how can we do something unique and what exciting things we have in the distillery that we could release and bring to everyone. “Obviously the Scotch Whisky Association is pretty strict, in a good way, so that no-one is going to mimic us, but we also like to push the boundaries a little bit and say, what can we really get away with here?” With a glint in her eye and an unmistakable enthusiasm in her voice, you can’t help but feel The Balvenie, when it comes to honouring tradition and driving innovation, is in very safe hands for the next 50 years and beyond. Browse all whisky or read more Editorial

David Stewart MBE is the longest-serving Malt Master. Kelsey McKechnie is the youngest female Malt Master Apprentice. Holly Motion speaks to the two Balvenie record-breakers about passing the baton, the weight of a legacy, and what it really means to lay down stocks for the next generation

Balvenie's longest-serving Malt Master David Stewart MBE and his successor Kelsey McKechnie on upholding tradition while driving innovation at the distillery.

The Balvenie, making of a master

The Balvenie: the making of a master

Inside Burgundy – Jasper Morris MW  “Bountiful and beautiful” reads the headline of Jasper Morris MW’s overview of the 2022 vintage in Burgundy. He finds it to be an overwhelmingly consistent vintage – one with “occasional touches of greatness”. He compares the whites to those of 2020, with a touch less energy but more precision, and the reds to 1985, 1999 or 2002 – “just short of top flight but a really lovely flavour profile of medium density and longevity”. Although he feels that it is not largely a year set to be legendary, these are wines that will drink well early, are unlikely to shut down and also have the capacity to age. It is a “fine and classic” vintage, but some areas have particularly impressed him: the whites of Puligny-Montrachet (where he feels there is a return of the appellation’s typical floral aromatics, and it's the finest vintage since 2017 or maybe 2014) and the reds of the Côte de Beaune, which he feels offer “just that little bit extra” in comparison to those of the Côte de Nuits, highlighting in particular the performance of Pommard and Volnay. In Meursault, he feels quality is generally excellent, but notes the sunny conditions led to the odd heavy wine, particularly so in Charmes.  He notes that in Nuits-Saint-Georges there was a storm a week after the much discussed event of 22nd June in Gevrey – impacting volumes largely, however he notes that there were a few wines with “furry tannins and less precision”. By contrast, Vosne-Romanée escaped the excesses of late June and is “looking very good”, with “some spectacular individual performances”, including Georges Noëllat and Mugneret-Gibourg. Although Chablis was at risk of frost, Morris explains how it escaped a repeat of the damages of 2021 and recovered yields with secondary buds. He argues that 2022 is “a very good vintage of clean, pure, well-constructed wines which are recognisably from Chablis – not the mouth-puckering style of previous decades, but Chablis in its modern image, which I would argue is every bit as valid”. Although accessible in youth, he feels the wines will age and some have “the potential to thrill”, not yet revealing everything they have to offer. For him it sits above most recent vintages, bar 2014, rivalling the wines of 2020.  Explore Jasper Morris MW’s full report, notes and scores on Inside Burgundy (subscribers only)  Burghound – Allen Meadows  In Allen Meadows’ report on Chablis, the Mâconnais and the Chalonnaise, he writes that the “relatively tranquil if incredibly warm” growing season resulted in “ripe, delicious, plump and round whites and very ripe yet still fresh reds, both of which should repay short to mid-term cellaring”. Like Morris, he emphasises the consistency of the year – and a rare vintage where both colours excelled. Despite the exceptionally hot and dry conditions, the 2022s are “fresh, bright and utterly delicious, if not classically styled, reds and whites”.  He feels that the best 2022 whites are defined by their freshness, while for the reds it is their generous textures – “a seductive blend of velvet and punch”. Although it is a consistent year, he warns that a handful of wines are a little heavy with acidities not always as high as he’d like.  For the whites, he compares them to 2020 or 2017, but with a little more flesh than the latter, and the reds are again closest to the best 2017s but a little riper. The best 2022s, Meadows says, are “lovely ‘do everything’ wines. This is to say that even if they’re not destined to be great wines, they do everything well.”  As for the Côte de Nuits, Meadows declares 2022 a “modern classic”. Despite the hot, dry growing season, “the wines, while ripe, are wonderfully refreshing and transparent”, “vibrant and inviting”, impeccably well-balanced”.  Interestingly, he suggests that the vintage’s lower alcohol levels are attributed to inefficient yeast converting 18.5g/l sugar to 1% alcohol, rather than the standard 17-17.5, something that producers can’t explain.  The reds are, he says, “fun” – “ a pleasure to drink”, yet also offer “substance, complexity and intellectual titillation”. They combine transparency with concentration, he feels, and that is a seductive combination. The tannins are “ripe, pliant, and, for lack of a better term, don’t stick out”, while the acid levels maintain balance, even if they aren’t analytically that high. He emphasises the wines’ approachability, yet also their ageability.  Although he doesn’t pretend that it is entirely uniform, with some wines that don’t meet his standards, it is “less variable than probably any vintage since 2015”. Comparisons are various and tricky, but he feels that 2022 is a combination of two-thirds a ripe vintage, with one-third of a fresher one – such as 1990 and 19991, 1996 and 1997, 1999 and 2000 and so on. Whichever you compare it to, Meadows is clear that the 2022s “belong in any serious Burgundy collector’s cellar”.  Explore Allen Meadows’ full report, notes and scores on the Burghound site (subscribers only)   jancisrobinson.com – Matthew Hayes  Jancis’s “man on the ground” in Burgundy is Matthew Hayes, and he provides the bulk of her coverage, although she will offer thoughts following tastings in London in mid-January.  “Beyond any doubt, 2022 has produced excellent, both red and white, up and down the Côte d’Or and beyond,” writes Hayes, although pinning down where it sits on the spectrum of great to good proves tricky. While there are outliers, he feels that the wines generally show “impeccable balance of tidy, ripe fruit, discreet acidity and equally (and mostly) refined tannins”. Many of the Grands Crus, he says, are concentrated and intense, yet “disarmingly understated” – not as rich and savoury as 2019 or 2020, but there are nevertheless “some absolute crackers”. He finds that the classification of wines is generally reflected in the wines, with each tier offering a significant step up in quality. Most importantly, although exceptions exist, it is “across the board and in both colours” a year that has produced fresh and balanced wines for the medium to long term – with value and quality.  Read Matthew Hayes’ full vintage report, notes and scores on the Jancis site  Decanter – Charles Curtis MW and Andy Howard MW Decanter’s Chablis coverage comes courtesy of Andy Howard MW. For Howard, 2022 is “a very good year – and potentially an excellent one” in Chablis, earning a 4.5 rating (out of a possible five). He finds the wines offer good balance and taut acidity, combining typical minerality with riper fruit thanks to the warm, dry conditions. He suggests the wines blend the freshness of 2017 or 2021 with the ripeness of 2019 and 2020, but picking date was key to retaining acidity – and some who missed the mark produced higher-alcohol, tropical wines. The best, however, will “age beautifully for many years”, thanks to their “winning combination of fruit ripeness combined with fresh acidity and classic Chablis notes of salinity and minerality”, making it “a year to stock up on”.  As for the rest of Burgundy, Charles Curtis MW writes that the reds offer “lush fruit expression, full body, well-developed but velvety tannins and abundant extract”, while he argues that the whites are mostly best for early drinking, with similarly “lush fruit” and “relatively soft acidity”. It is the acidity that limits the wines, in his view, mostly for the whites – meaning they earn a four out of five, while the reds reach 4.5 in Decanter’s vintage rating system. The reds “will age gracefully in the cellar”, and he feels are largely homogenous. Although he found the whites more varied, he notes that those of the Côte de Beaune’s most famous villages – Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet – were generally consistent.  Explore Andy Howard MW’s Chablis report, notes and scores or dive into Charles Curtis MW’s report on the rest of Burgundy in 2022 on the Decanter site (subscribers only)  Vinous – Neal Martin  Once the satirical introduction, with a commentary on pricing, is out the way, Neal Martin dives into his detailed report on 2022 – a year that he feels is “a treasure trove of bright ‘n bushy-tailed whites and reds in a season that implied such wines would be impossible, wines predestined to give immense drinking pleasure”.  He highlights how June’s dramatic thunderstorms were key and have defined the vintage, balancing the hot, dry conditions. “I posit that vines were stressed, but stress that they have learned to cope with,” he says. Pairing this with a shift towards a gentler touch in the winery has sculpted the 2022s – wines which he is clearly impressed by.  As we found, he emphasises that producers are split on whether the wines should go through another winter’s élevage or should be bottled early, emphasising that the high volumes of 2023 and limits on cellar capacity are a consideration at some addresses.  All in all, “I cannot remember a Burgundy vintage that elicited so much joy from barrel,” he says. He highlights the whites’ “freshness, particularly their textures, and the deft use of extract that lends weight and presence and heightens umami”, while the reds “fit more into the mold of cooler and classically styled vintages. Lighter colors, delineated aromatics, often tensile, surprisingly vibrant wines with ample weight and length, despite comparatively higher pH levels that vary between 3.25 to 3.50 pH”. The lower alcohol levels (12.8-13.5% for the most part from his conversations) are key, “lifting terroir expression and enhancing that elusive, intangible notion of Pinoté. Prosaically, it imbues the 2022s with drinkability.” The wines’ approachability is perhaps their weakness, he suggests, as the wines are “blessed with the balance and substance to mature exquisitely in bottle”, yet the reality is that most will be consumed within the next five years.  While quality is very consistently high, he doesn’t feel that the year is “a bevy of potential legendary wines” – not perhaps quite reaching true greatness in his book. That said, he advises readers to “fill their boots” where prices seem fair, for it’s a year he “will enjoy returning [to] time and again”.   Explore Neal Martin’s full report, notes and scores on Vinous (subscribers only)  Wine Advocate – William Kelley  Last out of the gate with his report is William Kelley, declaring 2022 “another very strong Burgundy vintage, offering excellence in both colors and in a wide variety of styles, foregrounding the fascinating nuances of site that render this region so interesting”, with wines that are “succulent, suave and charming”.  He notes how the dry, hot conditions somehow slowed the fruit’s development, as well as being another to emphasise the importance of June’s rainfall, as well as the sprinkling that fell in late August which “unleased ripening”. He warns that picking dates were key and at the extreme fringes, “early-picked 2022s present a delicate, pretty style that can lack a little substance” while later-harvested wines “span a spectrum from deep and muscular to overtly fat and jammy”. Fortunately, however, he finds that most wines sit between the two – “harmonious and charming with alcohol between 12.5% and 13.7%, reminiscent, in reds, of a hypothetical marriage of 2017’s easy charm with some of 2015’s depth and in whites, evoking a somewhat more giving, open version of the 2020 vintage”. These are, he says, “pleasure-bent Burgundies that will delight in their youth and at maturity”.  The success of the year is not merely due to the growing season, he writes, however, but the adaptation of producers to warming conditions – both in the vineyard and winery. Pricing remains a challenge, and he discusses the various factors at play, but celebrates the fact that few producers looked set to increase prices. Beyond this, he also highlights the ongoing threat posed by the troublesome rootstock 161-49C – highlighting that this is another reason to take advantage of “a comparatively abundant crop of high-quality wines”, something which “isn’t to be taken for granted”. Having re-tasted many 2021s in bottle, he also emphasises that “while 2021 is far from consistent or uniformly great, any Burgundy purists who have overlooked the vintage may want to reconsider their position”.  Explore William Kelley’s full report, notes and scores on the Wine Advocate (subscribers only)  Explore a selection of the critics’ favourite 2022s or read more about Burgundy 2022

After extensive tastings in the region, the world’s leading wine critics are ready to declare their verdict on Burgundy’s 2022 vintage – a year that shows incredible promise. Here’s your crib-sheet to what the top tasters are saying about the year so far

The leading Burgundy critics’ views on the 2022 wines – with a summary of what Neal Martin, Jasper Morris, Allen Meadows and William Kelley are saying

Burgundy 2022 – what the critics are saying

Burgundy 2022: the critics’ verdict

Booth's Taminick Cellars

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