1985 Burgundy Vintage

The 1985 vintage began under alarming circumstances. Winter temperatures approached -30°C in parts of Burgundy, causing vine losses in frost-trap sites, particularly in the Côte de Nuits and Chablis. Spring and early summer were cool and uneventful, resulting in a late flowering, though on vines unaffected by frost the fruit set was satisfactory. May, June, and July were close to average. Then, from the beginning of August, conditions changed dramatically: a hot, dry fin de saison settled in, with barely any rain through to harvest. September was really quite hot, ripening grapes fully and keeping them free of rot. The sole significant setback was a mid-August hailstorm that laid waste to a substantial area in Aloxe-Corton.

• January frost reached close to -30°C, causing vine loss especially in frost-prone sites in the Côte de Nuits and Chablis
• May through July were average, with a late but largely uneventful flowering
• August and September were hot and almost entirely dry, rescuing a vintage that had seemed unpromising
• A mid-August hailstorm caused considerable damage to Aloxe-Corton vineyards specifically

The transformation wrought by a brilliant late season was felt across the whole Côte d'Or, with Decanter noting consistency from Marsannay to Santenay. Reds from the Côte de Nuits achieved impressive concentration, with Gevrey-Chambertin and Vosne-Romanée standing out. Côte de Beaune reds also performed strongly. For whites, the crop was small and the wines were concentrated, with Domaine Leflaive's Puligny-Montrachet, Ramonet, Lafon, and Roulot among those cited by Decanter as top performers. Chablis, despite early frost fears, actually produced more wine in 1985 than in 1984. Some premier cru wines in frost-affected villages of the Côte d'Or had to be vinified together due to insufficient quantities from individual parcels.

• Côte de Nuits: Gevrey-Chambertin and Vosne-Romanée produced deeply concentrated reds
• Côte de Beaune: Both reds and whites showed excellent ripeness; whites were small-cropped and concentrated
• Chablis: Fears of negligible crops proved unfounded; 1985 output exceeded 1984 volumes
• Some frost-damaged premier cru parcels were insufficient to vinify separately, requiring blending within the appellation

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti produced a celebrated lineup including La Tâche, which attracted strong collector interest at auction. Armand Rousseau's 1985 Chambertin set auction records and is considered a benchmark of the vintage. Domaine Leflaive's Puligny-Montrachet is cited by Decanter as among the last great wines from the estate until 1995. Henri Jayer's Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux from 1985 is among the most sought-after bottles in Burgundy, with a case from Jayer's private collection selling for $265,200 at a Hong Kong auction in 2014. Other standout names confirmed by Decanter include Dujac, Faiveley, Jadot, Georges Roumier, Marquis d'Angerville, and J.F. Mugnier.

• Henri Jayer Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux: A case sold for $265,200 at a 2014 Hong Kong auction
• Armand Rousseau Chambertin: Three magnums fetched HK$195,200 at auction in 2011, setting a world record
• Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet: Cited by Decanter as among the last top Leflaive whites until 1995
• Faiveley Clos de la Roche, Dujac, Roumier, d'Angerville, and Jadot also confirmed as standout 1985 producers

Beyond its quality as a vintage, 1985 holds unique historical importance in the story of Burgundy. Wine writer Clive Coates MW described it as a watershed in the vinous history of Burgundy: before this date, growers largely sold their wines in bulk to merchants, who assembled, bottled, and sold them. After 1985, more and more domaines began maturing, bottling, and marketing wines themselves. The introduction of the sorting table, first observed by Clive Coates at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in 1987, was one of the key quality revolutions. The vintage also ended a run of difficult years in the 1970s and early 1980s and ushered in a sustained period of high-quality Burgundy production.

• Clive Coates MW described 1985 as the turning point from bulk négociant trade to domaine bottling
• Almost every owner of grand cru and quality premier cru vineyards began bottling under their own label around this time
• The sorting table, a transformative quality tool, was first observed in use at DRC around this period
• 1985 ended a run of poor to mediocre vintages stretching through parts of the 1970s and early 1980s

In character, the 1985 reds are sweet, lush, and glycerol-rich, with modest acidity but genuine balance. Burgundy-Report described the style as comparable to a cross between 2000 and 2009: ripe and approachable rather than austere or tannic. The wines showed impressive finesse in their youth, and many village-level and premier cru wines were delicious at five years and fading by ten. Well-cellared grand cru examples, however, have proven more durable than initially expected, and some continue to show remarkably well at 40 years of age. Decanter noted consistency across the appellation hierarchy, with the caveat that some wines from Henri Jayer, Joseph Roty, and others were over-oaked. White Burgundies produced a small, concentrated crop with early-developing richness.

• Reds are sweet, lush, and glycerol-fat in character, with modest acidity balanced by ripe fruit
• Many village and premier cru reds peaked early; several were already fading within a decade of the vintage
• Top grand cru reds have outperformed early expectations and continue to drink well
• Some wines from certain producers showed excess oak influence, a reflection of the era's winemaking experimentation

1985 stands as the strongest vintage in a weak run, following the difficult 1983 (torrid summer, widespread rot) and the poor 1984. It is widely considered one of the best Burgundy vintages of the 1980s. Compared with 1990, which is broader, richer, and more powerful, 1985 is more elegant and approachable in style. Versus 1978, which produced more austere, structured wines requiring very long cellaring, 1985 offered earlier accessibility and charm. The vintage sits alongside 1969, 1978, 1985, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2002, and 2005 as part of the canon of great 20th and early 21st-century Burgundy red vintages, according to multiple commentators.

• Far superior to the difficult 1983 and poor 1984 vintages that immediately preceded it
• More accessible and charming in style than the powerful, structured 1978
• Less opulent and broadly concentrated than the celebrated 1990, but with fine elegance
• Regarded as one of the decade's two best red Burgundy vintages alongside 1990