2017 Burgundy round-up

Final call and late entrants

All good things come to an end, including our 2017 Burgundy en primeur campaign. It's been a great season with a lot of excitement, a few thrills, and no huge spills that I am aware of. There have been some surprising sell-outs, but also a few surprising survivors. 2017 was a bounteous vintage (or what the Burgundians were calling the first 'normal' vintage since 2009, though if you ask me, if it's the first 'normal' since 2009 then that's not very normal anymore) and some of our allocations were up, so we still have some wine left to offer.

Some people have been calling 2017 a white vintage. There's certainly no denying that there are some amazing whites. My tasting book is replete with notes on white wines full of a racy energy, a sometimes electric tension, rich fruits being cut through by a bright line of acidity.

But tasting the reds was a real surprise. En primeur tasting is supposed to be difficult, but this was easy. They are generous, giving, warm and approachable. Sometimes it's red fruit, sometimes it's darker, sometimes the bouquet is more floral, sometimes it's more spice and sandalwood, but in the week we spent tasting in the region I barely came across a wine I didn't appreciate and enjoy. They have the structure to age very well, but many of the older vignerons we talked to said they are unlikely to shut down, and expect them to offer generous drinking at every stage in their evolution. That alone should earn them a place in your cellar.

Take a close look at the list below - there are familiar faces and some exciting late entrants you may not have seen before. /NT