Burgundy 2024 En Primeur Vintage Report
Burgundy 2024: the year the whites smiled through gritted teeth
If ever there were a reminder that Burgundy is farming first and romance second, 2024 is it. This was not a serene, sun-kissed procession from budburst to harvest. It was a season of interruptions and improvisation, damp stretches that kept everyone twitching about mildew, uneven flowering that knocked yields about, and the usual localised mischief of frost and hail to keep vignerons on the edge of their seats. In short, the sort of year where the best tool in the winery is not a new press, but a stiff upper lip.
And yet, for all that, there is a great deal to enjoy in the glass, particularly if you begin where the vintage truly shines.
The whites: properly alive, properly Burgundian
I have taken a great deal of pleasure from the 2024 whites. I still think the 2014s are the standard to which white Burgundy aspires, but in my view the 2024s are in the fight for next best, along with the 2017s. They have a clear, bright line running through them, and it is the line you want: relatively high acidity, but not the aggressive, enamel-stripping sort. More a feeling of lift and definition, the wine holding itself upright with good posture rather than leaning on excessive ripeness for support.
The best examples have that quietly confident balance that tends to age well. Fruit is clean, the palate is energetic, and the finish has real shape. They feel like wines made for the table and for the cellar, with nothing forced and nothing floppy. After a run of warmer years where “generous” occasionally became a polite euphemism for “a bit much”, 2024 is a welcome return to freshness with intent.
The reds: not a heavyweight, but charming when you choose sensibly
The reds are more variable, as you might expect from a year that asked so many questions in the vineyard. This is not, in my view, a vintage to buy the top Premier Cru and Grand Cru reds on autopilot. The season’s unevenness shows itself more readily in Pinot Noir, and at the top end you are paying for certainty. In 2024, certainty is something you should earn with tasting or with deep trust in the grower, not something you should assume simply because the label is famous.
That said, it would be quite wrong to write 2024 off as a “white only” year. There are some genuinely charming reds, especially at village level, where the best wines offer prettiness of fruit, attractive aromatics, and tannins that feel civilised rather than theatrical. In the right hands, the wines have a transparency and ease that suits a purpose well. They may not be monumental, but they are very drinkable, and there is a great deal to be said for that, particularly when Burgundy has been flirting with the idea that every bottle ought to be a bank loan.
A vintage shaped by weather, and by decisions
More than some years, 2024 feels like a vintage where the human element mattered enormously. When conditions are kind, the vineyard does most of the talking. When conditions are awkward, it becomes about judgement: how hard you worked in the vines, how ruthless you were with sorting, and how precisely you picked. I was told repeatedly this year that the sorting table was not so much a question of finding and discarding the poor fruit, but rather finding and selecting the healthy fruit, a sobering thought.
The weather pressures did not simply reduce quantity, they demanded choices. Those who kept their nerve, waited for the right moment, and protected fruit quality were rewarded, particularly in Chardonnay. Those who were pushed into compromises by rot pressure or uneven ripeness inevitably show a little more fragility.
The simple conclusion
Burgundy 2024 is a vintage I would describe as honest. The whites are the stars: fresh, taut, and thoroughly enjoyable, with the sort of structure that suggests real staying power. The reds are not a vintage of sweeping generalisations, but there is plenty of charm to be found, especially in village wines where finesse is a virtue rather than a consolation prize.
It is not a year for grand declarations. It is a year for sound judgement and good advice.
My highlights
Chablis has been a style which I have drifted in and out of love with over the last 20 years. 2024 is a year for Chablis and Samuel Billaud’s wines are nothing short of sensational.
Once again, Domaine de la Croix Senaillet have produced a superb set of St-Véran. As it was in 2022, the star is La Grande Bruyère at a very affordable £85 per 6.
I’m delighted to have secured an allocation from Domaine Michel Niellon, and their village Chassagne-Montrachet, I think, is brilliant and comparable in quality with some of their 1er Crus.
Another new producer I absolutely loved this year is Domaine Darviot-Perrin, a producer who genuinely reminds me of Roulot and, while not cheap, has such a bright future and will give so much joy.
On the reds, despite some moderate reviews from Neal Martin for one or two cuvées, Domaine Felettig were a delight, a rare instance of concentration and structure in the reds, with a range that can age, and their Aligoté was back on excellent form.
Elsewhere on the reds, Domaine Tollot-Beaut were so impressive. Having adapted to the vintage, they’ve used less obvious new oak, less extraction, and gone for refinement rather than power. I think these wines were very cleverly made.
Finally, a word for a young winemaker at Domaine Eric Boigelot in Meursault, and specifically his range of red Monthélie, which offer so much charm, Pinot expression, and juicy ripeness.