Burgundy 2010: better for terroir than ‘09

Albert Bichot’s winemaker Alain Serveau has described  2010 as having a better expression of terroir than 2009.

Speaking to the drinks business, Serveau said that while 2009 was “very easy to drink and charming it did mask the terroir”.

By contrast he described 2010 as “precise, fresh, a little less tannic than 2005 and with much better potential to show the vineyard in individual wines.

“It is not a year where one can say that it is a better year for one region than another,” he continued, “the concentration and the precision of the whites and reds is equally good.”

Nevertheless, Serveau made it clear that 2010 was not an easy vintage and whereas 2009 was very “generous” and “easy” to vinify, 2010 required more work and will therefore be more variable from producer to producer; although he also said it would be a vintage better suited to ageing.

Allocations are likely to be small as well because the growing season threw up many difficulties. Yields were down by 30% to 35% (similar to 2008 and 2003) and the weather was variable throughout the year.

Frosts destroyed new shoots and the flowering was beset by millerandange and colure leading to very uneven ripening and a staggering of the harvest with some parcels harvested several times, which Serveau described as “very rare”.

There were fears over the vintage’s heterogeneity as a result but Serveau is undoubtedly happy with the end result.