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The 2013 Burgundy Vintage by Etienne Grivot
Following a mild, wet winter, the 2013 vintage finally declared itself ready rather late. On April 25, a frank start for the vegetation was induced by temperatures over 10°C above normal. Early May however brought frightfully cold weather with temperatures 15° lower than the seasonal average plus abundant rain. We immediately observed aborted grapes.
May 24 brought a near catastrophe with a morning temperature of 0 to 1°C.
June began with good weather and a nice northeast wind. In consideration of the vines, it was evident that the cold had given us the boost we needed to endure this nail-biting period.
June 20 recorded hot weather if not a heat wave. The flowering had barely begun and storms were menacing.
July 2 the climatic conditions were manifestly stable. Although spared from hail storms the overall flowering appeared very uneven.
In July and early August, the excellent summer conditions incited a great spurt of growth. In spite of this the vineyard remained behind schedule.
On August 25 ripening seemed considerably laborious. The days were warm but nights cold.
Beginning of September brought more cold and rain. It was not until mid-September that the temperatures finally stabilized with nice blue skies and a light NE wind.
Needless to say 2013 was decried as having had a difficult vegetative cycle! And yet, although late toward the end of September, the grapes looked incredibly healthy. Even if the sugar content was not quite up to par, the skins were beautiful and seeds quite ripe. All we could do was to wait!
We began harvest on October 5. I compared this vintage immediately and intuitively with 1978. Thanks to my aunt Jacqueline Jayer’s conscientious habit of writing detailed notes on a daily basis, I was able to observe two significant similarities between the two vintages 2014 - 1978. In both cases there was a late harvest date - October 8 for 1978. Furthermore there was a noticeable lack of seeds, and occasionally a single atrophied one in a normal-sized berry.
At this point the vines had two priorities: allow the seeds to ripen so they could generate new seedlings, and restore the starch reserves to better endure winter and insure their own longevity. Due to the lack of seeds, the vines were able to regain their energy reserve very rapidly and eventally match the good quality of the skins. As a result we had an incredibly good vintage.
The wines are deep and dense with an intense robe, indicating a judicious compromise between pulp and energy. I adore this vintage and am convinced that, like its predecessor of 1978, it will, at one stage in its life, be both qualified as voluptuous and endowed with a lovely freshness.