Burgundy 2024 en primeur: White wines shine amid a small and challenging harvest

Following a growing season rife with challenges, 2024 is a catastrophically small vintage, yet there are bright spots that shine through, particularly among the white wines.

Despite concerns raised in some quarters over quality in general as a result of the year’s severe weather conditions, Burgundy lovers may be surprised how many enjoyable wines they will find.

According to Frédéric Drouhin, CEO of Maison Joseph Drouhin, ‘2024 is a vintage of delicacy, sobriety and precision. It is a pleasant vintage in red, and a precise and salty vintage for the whites.’

His wife, Claude de Nicolay, directs her own domaine, Chandon de Briailles, with her brother François. Her view was slightly different: ‘2024 will be a “virtual” vintage – you will almost not see it at all.

‘We lost 90% of the crop and had an average yield of 8hl/ha. There was nothing at all to pick at the base of the slope. But in the end, it is a classic vintage “à l’ancienne”, a character not extinguished by the excesses of the weather.’

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for Charles Curtis MW’s Burgundy 2024 selection

Burgundy 2024 vintage rating and overview:

Whites: 4/5

2024 is a good to very good vintage that has produced whites of elegance and finesse with the structure and the substance for mid- to long-term ageing, comparable to the 2014 vintage.

Reds: 3/5

2024 is a challenging vintage for red wine. The best examples will be found in the Côte de Beaune, although outstanding producers further north have exceeded expectations.

First impressions

After tasting more than 1,400 wines from this vintage, I can say that it is a good vintage for white wines, which have firm acidity, wonderful balance and moderate alcohol.

It was generally a modest vintage for red wine, which could be light, thin and lacking concentration and fruit.

It is above all a highly variable vintage from village to village, however, and surprises abound.

Chablis was hit hardest by the climate in 2024, and the Côte de Beaune fared better than the Côte de Nuits. It seems that the further south one ventures, the better the wines become, and 2024 is a vintage where the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais really came into their own.

Drouhin describes the challenges: ‘We did not produce any wine at all in the grands crus of Clos de Vougeot, Clos de Bèze, or Les Clos in Chablis, and it was difficult for the staff since the pressure was simply too intense.’

Numerous winemakers spoke of the psychological challenge of the 2024 vintage, explaining that they felt they should have been able to do more, somehow, to counter the weather’s excesses – that they might have changed the outcome had they done so.

But on the ground at the time it was happening, that wasn’t realistic, given the very difficult conditions they faced. The best, however, did what they could to deliver delicious wines.

According to the BIVB, total volume produced in 2024 was 1.21 million hectolitres, just over 161 million bottles. This figure was a drop of more than a third from the generous 2023 harvest, although it was more than 20% above 2021, which was decimated by frost.

Read the full report on the Chablis 2024 vintage

Weather Conditions

2024 began with mild temperatures and notably some of the warmest February temperatures ever recorded. March was also warmer than usual, setting the vines ahead of schedule. April, however, saw temperatures plummet, with two episodes of frost at the end of the month damaging some vineyards.

The real challenge began in May, however, as temperatures remained low and rain fell incessantly across the region. Jérôme Flous is the technical director of Domaine Faiveley.

He explains the difficulties: ‘I started at Faiveley in 2007, and 2024 was my most challenging vintage – there were 38 days of rain in May and June. The problem was the flowering; in a rainy year, it is disrupted, the stem is in contact with the air, and mildew can easily destroy the bunch.’

The rain lessened somewhat in July and August, but there were occasional storms, including hailstorms, throughout this period. Another difficulty was the lack of sun: 2024 saw the fewest hours of sunshine since the beginning of the century.

Grapes ripened with difficulty, and most growers used a relatively dry period from 13-22 September to harvest their tiny crop.

Charles’ wines of the vintage:

White: Domaine Jean Chartron, Clos des Chevaliers, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru – 98 points

Red: Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé, Vieilles Vignes, Musigny Grand Cru – 97 points

Previous vintage ratings:

2023: Whites 4/5 Reds 4.5/5

2022: Whites 4/5 Reds 4.5/5

2021: Whites 4/5 Reds 3.5/5

2020: Whites 4.5/5 Reds 4/5

2019: Whites 4/5 Reds 5/5

Around the appellations

Côte de Nuits

In a reversal of recent trends, conditions in the Côte de Nuits were more difficult than those in the Côte de Beaune. This reversal is mainly due to localised differences in rainfall, which was much higher there, and to the dominance of Pinot Noir, which was more affected by poor flowering and mildew.

Even within the Côte de Nuits, conditions varied, and the southern portion, from the Clos de Vougeot to Nuits-St-Georges, suffered more than the section from Morey to Marsannay.

Top Côte de Nuits producers in 2024:

• Domaine Armand Rousseau
• Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé
• Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
• Domaine des Lambrays
• Domaine Dugat-Py
• Domaine Dujac
• Domaine Duroché
• Domaine Rossignol-Trapet
• Domaine Georges Roumier
• Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier

Côte de Beaune

Conditions in the Côte de Beaune were generally better than in the Côte de Nuits, though there was variation here as well. The hill of Corton to the north was extremely hard hit by the weather.

To the south of Beaune, however, conditions improved. The ‘golden triangle’ of Meursault, Puligny and Chassagne had quality and yields much closer to the norm, mainly because Chardonnay (on which these appellations are focused) had a more successful flowering and was less affected by mildew than Pinot Noir.

In the south, Santenay and Maranges produced some lovely wines.

Top Côte de Beaune producers in 2024:

• Domaine de Montille
• Domaine des Comtes Lafon
• Domaine des Croix
• Domaine Henri et Gilles Buisson
• Domaine Jean Chartron
• Domaine Michel Lafarge
• Domaine Michel Niellon
• Domaine Pierre Vincent
• Domaine Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey
• Domaine Rapet

Côte Chalonnaise

Further south, in the Côte Chalonnaise, conditions continued to improve. There were marvellous examples of Chardonnay from Montagny, Mercurey and Rully, as well as some particularly good Aligoté.

Although conditions limited yields for Pinot Noir, conscientious growers were able to produce lovely wines here that should provide solid value and current drinking pleasure, and some that have the substance for ageing.

Top Côte Chalonnaise producers in 2024:

• Château de Chamirey
• Domaine Baron Thénard
• Domaine Belleville
• Domaine Chanzy
• Domaine du Cellier aux Moines

Mâconnais

The Mâconnais is among the brightest spots in Burgundy for the 2024 vintage. Conditions produced some superb examples of Pouilly-Fuissé (particularly among the new-ish premiers crus).

Throughout the Mâconnais, the top growers produced white Burgundy that wine lovers should not miss in this vintage.

Top Mâconnais producers in 2024:

• Bret Brothers & Domaine de la Soufrandière
• Domaine Merlin
• Domaine Deux Roches
• Domaine du Roc des Boutires
• Domaine Frantz Chagnoleau
• Domaine Jacques Saumaize
• Domaine Rijckaert
• Domaine Saumaize-Michelin
• Maison Verget & Domaine Guffens-Heynen

Concluding thoughts

The 2024 vintage will remain a vintage apart, if only because of the exceptional climatic conditions. Judging the wines, however, is another matter. As Frédéric Mugnier of Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier put it: ‘Don’t take the word of a winemaker when it comes to [assessing] a vintage, since their opinion reflects their lived experience, and there was no amusement involved in making the 2024 vintage.’

In red wine, the closest parallels would be 2001 or 2013. For whites, the nearest comparison would be 2014, suggesting that it is a vintage to buy reds for current drinking and whites to lay down.

If money is no object, invest in the Montrachet from Domaine des Comtes Lafon or the Chevalier-Montrachet from Domaine Jean Chartron or Domaine Michel Niellon. Among the reds, an obvious splurge would be the Musigny from Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé or the Bonnes Mares from Domaine Georges Roumier.

Most wine lovers would also be delighted with mid-range bottles such as the Clos du Château des Ducs from Domaine Michel Lafarge, or the Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Aux Combottes from Domaine Arlaud. Given the limited availability of top wines, it would be advisable to buy en primeur to secure an allocation.

There are also lovely wines further south that will be much less expensive. For whites, don’t miss the Mâcon-Pierreclos from Maison Verget, or the Pouilly-Fuissé Premier Cru Sur la Roche from Domaine Rijckaert.

Côte Chalonnaise reds such as the Givry Premier Cru Clos du Cellier aux Moines from Domaine du Cellier aux Moines, or the Mercurey Premier Cru Clos l’Eveque from Domaine Belleville will be perfect for current drinking.

COMING SOON

Further analysis and top-scoring wines of the following areas:

Morey-St-Denis | Meursault | Chambolle-Musigny | Gevrey-Chambertin | Pommard and Volnay | Vosne-Romanée & Nuits-St-Georges | Chassagne & Puligny-Montrachet | Best value

A taste of the top Burgundy 2024 wines

Wines were tasted non-blind. Wines are listed in order of white then red, then by scores, and then alphabetically by producer. The 2024s are bottled from January 2026, hence prices, stockists and alcohols are not yet finalised. Contact specialist merchant for allocations or to enquire about en primeur tastings. The following wines were Charles Curtis MW’s selection for particularly notable quality and value among the 650 wines he reviewed from the 2024 Burgundy vintage.

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