2008 Burgundy Vintage

Autumn and winter were dry and mild, with a severe cold spell in mid-December and January and February about 2 degrees C above normal. April was cool and wet, with rainfall by then twice the usual amount, and it snowed at Easter. Drouhin described a warm May, with 8 to 9 leaves out by mid-May, but Jasper Morris of Inside Burgundy saw only a brief warm spell in early May before grey, cool, occasionally wet weather ran well into June and raised the risk of mildew. Flowering came through the second and third weeks of June and was strung out, with coulure or millerandage on some of the plentiful bunches. From 24 June a north-westerly wind brought a sunny week, and July was promising until a hailstorm on 26 July damaged Volnay, Pommard, Meursault, Beaune and especially Savigny. Hail struck the Maconnais on 7 August, and westerly fronts then brought frequent showers and below-average temperatures. Rain returned on 11 September, with outbreaks of botrytis in some areas. On 14 September the wind swung to the north or north-east and held for a fortnight, bringing bright, dry, windy days; the sun and north wind brought the grapes to full ripeness and the botrytis disappeared. A few growers started picking on 21 September, with the main harvest from around 25 September, the timing the mid-June flowering had suggested. Mildew and oidium were relatively rife just before harvest, but growers who had done their vineyard work well and were properly equipped at harvest were reasonably content. The crop was one of the lowest of the previous ten years, at the equivalent of 193 million bottles, down 5.3% on 2007 and 4.4% below the five-year average.

• April was cool and wet; flowering in the second and third weeks of June was strung out, with some coulure or millerandage
• Hail on 26 July damaged Volnay, Pommard, Meursault, Beaune and especially Savigny; hail hit the Maconnais on 7 August
• From 14 September a north or north-east wind held for a fortnight and saved the harvest
• Main picking began around 25 September; the crop was the equivalent of 193 million bottles, down 5.3% on 2007

The BIVB's November 2009 communique went region by region. It found the Chablis and Auxerrois whites very attractive, with remarkable freshness and minerality, and said the Cote Chalonnaise and Cote de Beaune whites could already be considered a great vintage (translated), with notes of ripe fruit and citrus. It described the Cote Chalonnaise and Cote de Beaune reds as an intense ruby colour, with red fruit, spice and blond tobacco, and the Cote de Nuits reds as superbly balanced with exceptional aromatic quality. The Domaine Joseph Drouhin report said 2008 in Chablis may be one of the best vintages of the last 25 years. Cremant de Bourgogne was picked earlier than the still wines in ideal conditions, and the BIVB called 2008 a great vintage for it.

• Maconnais whites were round, textured and perfectly balanced, which the BIVB called a very beautiful vintage (translated)
• Red volume, at the equivalent of 60 million bottles, was the smallest since 1984 apart from 2003
• White volume fell 6%, with regional AOCs and Maconnais wines the most affected
• Cremant de Bourgogne reached a record of nearly 17 million bottles

Acidity was the thread through the vintage. David Clark in Morey told Burgundy-Report his sugars ran from 11.5 for the Passetoutgrains to 12.9 for the Vosne, and that acidities were "a little high, but it seems that will be the hallmark of the vintage." Drouhin found acidity higher than usual in both colours in January 2009. Jasper Morris was less enthusiastic than many peers at the outset. He found intense fruit up front and powerful acidity behind but "too often a hole in the middle", because the grapes were "effectively wind dried more than sun ripened." He saw no pattern by village or slope in the reds; everything depended on vineyard management. Upbeat commentators praised the pure pinot character, especially against the heavier 2009s. At his Ten Years On tasting most reds had kept a bright colour and very few were tiring, though only a few had significant flesh, and he wrote that for the most part the 2008 whites should probably be drunk soon.

• Acidity ran higher than usual in both colours
• Reds showed no pattern by village or slope; vineyard management decided success
• Supporters praised the pure pinot character, especially against the heavier 2009s
• Ten years on, most reds held a bright colour and very few were tiring