You may need reminding now that 2003 was the year France endured a blistering summer. Due to the unprecedented heat, even more northerly French regions such as Burgundy had more than a fortnight at 40 degrees-plus, with sweltering night-time temperatures, too. As specialist wine merchants will know, the best vintages for the pinot noir grape in Burgundy’s northerly climes are usually the hottest years. Given the delicate, early-ripening, thin-skinned pinot noir charms, no one knew quite how the vintage would turn out, but expectations were high.
The record temperatures of 2003 meant that the harvest began on August 13, just 80 days after the flowering, instead of the usual 100. This made 2003 the earliest vintage in the region since 1893, as well as the hottest year since 1340. Grumpy growers had to dash back from their annual August holiday to pick their grapes before alcohol levels topped 14.5 per cent in some cases: levels common in hot New World countries, but unheard of in Burgundy.
It was not just the extreme heat that set this vintage apart, but also hail and the freak mid-April snow and frost that ensured 2003 yields were half that of an average-sized crop. Comparisons with hot, great
burgundy vintages such as l947 and l949 were bandied about early on, but having tasted a fair few 2003 white and red burgundies, I think this could be over the top.
The 2003 vintage’s big problem is its clear lack of long life-giving acidity. While the lush, exotic, plum, mulberry and black-cherry fruit of the fully ripe, later-picked, concentrated ‘03 reds has been bolstered by supple tannins, velvety texture and ripe structure, partly making up for low acidity, almost all the whites I tasted were flabby, dull and inconsequential, without the distinctive, zingy, glacé citrus Côte d’Or fruit of a fine white burgundy year. But since prices for 2003 reds are up 20 per cent on 2002, due to the small crop, the big question is will they age well and go the distance required of a great red year? I suspect not.
What to buy in this vintage is a hard question, as the climactic extremes and the varied heat-combating techniques used add up to an erratic field. Late-picked, old vines in cool soils on shadier slopes often fare better than the sunniest grand cru sites.
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Expect to find some gorgeous bourgogne rouge from this vintage and some impressive early drinking Côte d’Or village wines. I have also tasted some smashing Côte Chalonnaise reds, and so far the 2003 beaujolais have been dreamy. Buy them from O. W. Loeb (020-7234 0385), Lea & Sandeman (020-7244 0522), Justerini & Brooks (020-7484 6400), Lay & Wheeler (0845 330 1855), John Armit (020-7908 0660), Howard Ripley (020-8877 3065) and Tanners (01743 234455). Caveat emptor, though - no one knows how this vintage will turn out.
jane.macquitty@thetimes.co.uk