A vintage where terroir sings

The 2024 Burgundy vintage is one shaped decisively by nature, yet ultimately defined by the skill, experience and sensitivity of today’s winemakers. Our growers’ viticulture is more thoughtful and precise than ever before, and winemakers are far better equipped to respond to climatic challenges. Adapting seamlessly from the hot dry 2023 to the warm and wet 2024. For many this was their toughest year to date – which makes the results even more astonishing. We are delighted to share some of these great wines with you today.

This was a demanding year in the vineyards. Persistent rainfall through late spring and summer, particularly around flowering, created intense mildew pressure across the region. While there were a handful of localised weather incidents, mildew - rather than frost proved to be the defining challenge of the vintage. Pinot Noir, which flowers slightly later and is naturally more susceptible, was especially affected, particularly in the Côte de Nuits.

The summer itself was often grey, with limited sunshine. Under normal circumstances, this would have made ripening Pinot Noir extremely difficult. However, yields were dramatically reduced very early in the season, in some cases to astonishingly low levels. While deeply frustrating for growers, these tiny crops proved to be the saving grace of the vintage, allowing vines to focus their limited energy on a small number of bunches and bring them to full, clean ripeness.

Harvest arrived after a welcome two-week window of fine, warm weather in early-September, and stayed fair allowing growers to pick surprisingly calmly. Despite the painfully small volumes, fruit quality was generally excellent, with very little rot or degradation. Sorting tables were widely used, a tough call when yields were already down by 60–70% but with our growers quality remained the priority.

In the cellar, winemaking in 2024 was marked by restraint and sensitivity. Extraction was kept gentle to preserve freshness and avoid hard tannins, and whole-bunch fermentation was used selectively where stems had reached full ripeness. New oak was used sparingly, often not at all, allowing purity of fruit and a clear sense of place to take centre stage. Extremely low volumes also forced creative solutions, including some unusual blends and the declassification of some higher-tier fruit - resulting in a handful of wines that will probably never be made again.

n the glass, the reds are one of the quiet triumphs of the year. Lighter in body than the previous two warm vintages, they are defined by crunchy red fruit, fresh acidity and an absence of aggressive tannin. They are charming, balanced and deeply classical in feel - cool in profile, yet complete and satisfying. With such minuscule quantities produced, these wines will be genuinely rare and a joy to encounter.

The whites, meanwhile, tell a slightly different story. Surprisingly concentrated, with joyous intensity and often some power, they show excellent tension and a vivid expression of terroir. Comparisons to 2014 are well founded: these are wines that are compact and sometimes reserved for now, but which promise to develop into superb examples, for any who can resist their early charm. Volumes in white are also widely reduced, although less dramatically than for the reds.

We believe 2024 is a vintage that will surprise and delight and we are thrilled to share it with you today - please enjoy the tasting!

David Porter
Lea & Sandeman Buyer

Find Out More

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Buying Advice

We are always delighted to offer advice should you need it. Please contact our Private Client team, or your usual contact. If you would like halves or Mags please ask - this is sometimes possible when buying Burgundy en primeur. The team can be contacted directly via email.

Allocations & Pricing

We will be pricing wines on the lists once the initial allocations have been completed, and when more prices are released by the growers, so please keep checking the website as we update availability. Alternatively, please email us to engage with the private client team who will be happy to help.

All prices are quoted IN BOND per the case size stated. If you would like wines duty paid on arrival, please include a note in your order form. Duty & VAT for duty paid orders will be due at the prevailing rate at the time of delivery and cannot be paid in advance.

TBA = Wines marked 'To Be Advised' are either awaiting answers from allocations, or have yet to be released to us by the producers. Please do ask and we will advise if and when we are able to offer them.