I read with a lot of interest a piece written by Aubert de Villaine in Terroir Sense Wine Review. In this article, he is describing how the extremely difficult weather in 2021 had a catastrophic effect on the yields. Surprisingly, this is the reason for the success of the 2022 vintage, endowing it with fantastic results combining high yields and superb quality.
This is a story of how the vine adapts to nature’s whims. Each year’s different weather conditions influence the vines to give birth to grapes, which are unique. The wine of each vintage has it’s own personality. And how do people talk about these personalities ? A wine can be classified as a Great or a Minor Vintage. This is a crude simplification, but it’s commonly used.
Wines described as Great Vintages are usually full of fruit, very complex but when young, are hiding the taste of minerality which comes from the soil. Minor Vintages are wines where the soil (the French call it “terroir”) is predominant in the quality and enjoyment of the wine. There is less fruit, the wines are leaner, so the importance of great soil is paramount. If a wine comes from a lesser soil, it may not be very enjoyable, as a lesser wine needs the fruit and the concentration.
Minor Vintages are often appreciated by connoisseurs because of the lower concentration which gives way to more refined and subtle wines, like the 2006 Burgundy, one of my favourites. Because of the adverse weather conditions in 2021, the vines could only produce a small quantity of grapes. As a result, during the winter, the vines were resting, consolidating their reserve of strength and in 2022, gave birth to an exceptional harvest in both quality and quantity. It’s a Great Vintage. The 2021 however, will go down in history as a Minor Vintage, with its qualities of refined character, primarily expressing the soil. But Minor Vintages are also worthy of love !
In my view, calling some vintages Great and some Vintages Minor is often a misconception, both have their place, they are just different. The connoisseurs and the vintners often prefer the Minor Vintages because they reflect to a larger extent the unique soil of Burgundy, while the Great Vintages are full-bodied and delicious.
When deciding what to taste with your evening meal, a 2021 will give you elegant fruit and beautiful expression of the soil, reflecting a typical Burgundy. The 2022 however, will give you the experience of a wine with concentration, ripe fruit, complexity and length.
And for this you can thank the 2021 !