Centre-Loire wines in 2024: The human impact of a harrowing vintage

Centre-Loire 2024 vintage rating and overview:

2/5

Widely dubbed the most difficult vintage in living memory. It pays to stick to the best names for zippy, early-drinking, well-made wines.

2024 is a year that will stick in the minds – and throats – of the vignerons who lived it in the Centre-Loire – the area which covers the appellations of Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Pouilly-sur-Loire, Menetou-Salon, Quincy, Reuilly, Coteaux du Giennois, Châteaumeillant, Côtes de la Charité, and Coteaux de Tannay.

A record-breaking year for all the wrong reasons, the season was dominated by rain in previously unknown quantity and frequency.

Humidity was the enemy, resulting in an endless battle against disease, vineyards clogged with mud, soaring costs due to the many additional hours of labour and vine treatments, and insufficient sun or warmth to ripen the grapes.

One might say the conditions were exactly the opposite of those needed to grow healthy grapes.

To add insult to injury, there was also localised spring frost in Châteaumeillant, Coteaux du Giennois and Pouilly-Fumé, and summer hail in Sancerre.

‘The vintage spared us nothing,’ reads the grim conclusion of the growers’ annual report.

The harvest was just as complicated. Growers had to contend with delayed ripening and deteriorating grape quality as the unsettled weather continued through October. It was a vintage to remember, and one to forget.

See all 60 wines tasted and reviewed from 2024 and 2023

The human impact

For all the talk of the weather, though, it is the human stories that are the hardest to hear.

Carine Crochet, wife of Sancerre vigneron François Crochet, recalls the extraordinary difficulty of vignerons trying to support each other when nobody had the strength to do so: ‘We were calling each other and looking at the weather 50 times a day. It was very difficult psychologically.’

The last season of significant crop loss here was 2021, when spring frosts devastated many vineyards. Despite the pain of losing so much, the 2021 frost was a short, sharp shock. Once it was over, the season was less stressful.

2024, in contrast, was a long, drawn-out agony, with stark differences between those farming organically and those with access to more powerful chemical tools to combat disease.

Some growers using conventional viticulture managed to produce a regular crop, whereas several organic domaines made no wine at all in 2024, and others made so little that they blended multiple cuvées together just to have enough wine to sell.

Biodynamic producer Jean-Laurent Vacheron of Domaine Vacheron says, ‘We’ve never spent so much money for so little harvest. We’ll never cover the cost of making these wines.’

The vinous impact

As for the quality, 2024 is, predictably, a light vintage characterised by low levels of alcohol, moderate concentration and very crisp acidity.

The best wines, fragrant and bright, tend to be from winemakers who lost most of their crop, because the vines were better able to ripen the small quantity of grapes that remained during the overcast summer.

Wines produced at very high yields, on the other hand, often show underripe and tart flavours.

It should be noted that because many 2024s are not yet on the market, many of the wines tasted for this report are from the abundant 2023 vintage, also reported on last year.

These 2023 wines are ripe and delicious, offering easy-drinking pleasure. The weather was warm, but only at the end of a rather cool growing season, so there is no sense of excess, rather of comfort and ease.

These wines do not have the concentration and weight of the 2022s, and will perhaps be less long-lived, but both the 2022 and 2023 vintages are very good and full of charm, with many recommendable wines.

So the question is, should you buy any Centre-Loire wines from 2024?

The 2024 wines listed below are a safe bet in this tricky vintage. Beyond that, seek out the excellent 2023s that are still available, and the 2022s if you can find them.

Centre-Loire vintage ratings

2024: 2/5

Widely dubbed the most difficult vintage in living memory. It pays to stick to the best names for zippy, early-drinking, well-made wines.

2023: 4/5

An abundant vintage. A late heatwave ripened the grapes nicely, giving wines of charm and approachability that can be enjoyed now. High yields led to some dilution, but the best wines are tasting balanced and delicious.

2022: 4/5

A year marked by drought has given full-bodied, ripe wines with balanced acidities. Alcohol levels can be quite high, but there are many appealing wines to enjoy.

2021: 3.5/5

Spring frosts and a cool growing season resulted in a small volume of delicate, high-quality wines. There are some delicious, crisp whites from this vintage, though it is less reliable for reds.

2020: 4/5

A warm vintage of good quality. Alcohol levels can be a little on the high side as sugars rose rapidly late in the season.

The 2024 and 2023 wines to seek out:

Wines listed in score order by vintage (2024 then 2023).

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