2020 Burgundy Vintage

A particularly mild winter made 2020 an early year, and budburst began very early, around 20 March. After a mixed start to spring, flowering took place in excellent conditions. The summer was hot and dry, with a heatwave in August. In the Maconnais, the drought and the last days of the heatwave dried out the grapes and brought a great deal of concentration, and the heat carried the fruit to ripeness in just a few days. Olivier Fichet of Domaine Fichet had expected to pick between 18 and 20 August, but on the Monday morning of that week he found the grapes had shriveled. Picking began on Wednesday 12 August 2020 at Domaine Fichet in Ige, in the Saone-et-Loire, the earliest date ever recorded for the vineyard, beating the record set in the 2003 heatwave. The Confederation des appellations et des vignerons de Bourgogne (CAVB) forecast the start of still-wine picking in northern Burgundy for 22 to 25 August. The harvest began just after mid-August and continued into early September in very good weather, with the grapes reaching excellent ripeness while keeping good acidity. Fichet expected the crop to be 20 to 25 percent lower overall.

• A particularly mild winter made 2020 an early year; budburst began around 20 March
• Flowering took place in excellent conditions after a mixed start to spring
• Hot, dry summer with a heatwave in August that carried the fruit to ripeness in days in the Maconnais
• Picking began on 12 August at Domaine Fichet; the wider harvest began just after mid-August and ran into early September

Picking traditionally starts earlier in the Maconnais, in southern Burgundy, than in the north. Domaine Fichet, which has 35 hectares of vines in the Maconnais, was the first to pick, from 6 in the morning on 12 August, nearly a month ahead of the previous year and a good week ahead of the previous record of 2003. "This year is historically early," Olivier Fichet said (translated). He began by machine-harvesting 2.5 hectares facing due east that were already ripe. On the hectares harvested in haste, Fichet estimated he had lost 40 percent of his production. Cremant picking was expected to begin that same weekend.

• Domaine Fichet in Ige began on 12 August, nearly a month ahead of the previous year
• A good week ahead of the previous record of 2003
• Picking of northern Burgundy still wines was forecast for 22 to 25 August
• Fichet estimated a 40 percent loss of production on the hectares already picked

The whites are very aromatic, marked by ripe fruit and citrus notes, with an ample, balanced palate and remarkable freshness, and the BIVB calls them a very great vintage. The reds are very expressive, dominated by fruity and spicy aromas, with impressive structure and a tannic texture of very high quality, and the BIVB calls them an out-of-the-ordinary vintage. At the press in the Maconnais, the juice came out at 13 degrees, which Fichet called exceptional, with a fine purple color. "It will certainly be a very fine vintage," he said (translated).

• Whites: very aromatic, with ripe fruit and citrus notes and remarkable freshness
• Reds: very expressive, with fruity and spicy aromas and impressive structure
• Grapes reached excellent ripeness while keeping good acidity
• Maconnais juice at 13 degrees with a fine purple color