My first thoughts isolate just four major owners of grand crus that, for those with very deep pockets, would be very attractive, and they were Leroy, Camus, Thénard and Damoy. It seems that my list has already shrunk to three…

More details will doubtless come to corroborate, or otherwise, the suggestion of up to a 500 million Euro price-tag – it doesn’t sound all that expensive for significantly the largest owner of Clos de Bèze – but given the more challenging marketplace right now for red grand crus, who’s to say…

*The first Genesis album that I purchased !!

Montrachet

Puligny

Romanée-Conti

Fleurie…

It’s started to get warm, but it’s only 10 days since the candles, windmills and burners were doing their thing in many parts of Burgundy.

The worst of the frost seemed to be, as usual, in Chablis. Temperatures as low as -6°C were seen near Chichée – and that’s not a place that’s afforded much protection; Their premiers are quite distant from sources of water (for aspersion) and the village wines can’t really support the cost of using candles. I know that the assessors from the insurance companies have been on site this week – with early estimated of 25-40% losses – in places. In other places, mainly the higher value vineyards, where candles and water sprays were used, the damage seems to be much, much smaller – but we will see – it’s how the flowering and grape development goes that counts…

In the Côte d’Or it has, so far, been another year of prophylactic vine protection measures. Yes, temperatures hovered around -3°C one night, but the weather was also dry and windy. The next day was also supposed to be minus 3°C, but turned out cloudy and closer to zero. Again, we will have to see how the flowering goes, but damage seems rarer than in Chablis – which was already ahead of the rest of Burgundy in growth.

The Hautes Côtes de Beaune had a few losses – particularly near Paris l’Hôpital in the south of the Côte d’Or, but the Côtes Chalonnais, Mâconnais and down into Beaujolais seemed to have avoided damage.

The next days are forecast to be cooler again after some days hovering around 25°C – but nothing close to frosty, indeed many domaines have already cleared away their candles…

Of course, it’s very early, but the current stage of growth is already indicative of a late August harvest !!

1998 Denis Mortet Gevrey-Chambertin
I don’t know what they used for glue in those days, but overnight in the fridge, buth the neck and main label fell off !
Still plenty of colour – it’s not old looking. What a large-scale nose of bloody fruit and higher tones that are modestly redolent of the barrel – but now a long way from the cigarette ash oak of this wine’s youth – that’s a fine invitation. Energy and fine, cool complexity in the mouth – it’s long too. Certainly the best from this case of 12, but maybe only one more remains. Patience is a virtue, but for this 12-case, I was mostly lacking. Today, it’s an excellent wine…
Rebuy – Yes

2021 Alain Geoffroy, Chablis 1er Beauroy Signature
A modest volume of aroma with a little ripeness. Boom! Fresh energy – citrus energy – yum! This is one of those ‘dangerous’ 20221 – you lose concentration for a second, and the bottle has been emptied !! So good !!
Rebuy – Yes

Roughly signing off from what turned out to be quite a heavy cold, there was also a 1996 Penfolds Bin 707 with a rubbish, crumbly cork. But the cork had been a good seal and the wine was in perfect condition…

2020 Jules Desjourneys Beaujolais Villages Blanc
Modest colour. A deep nose, with a subtly toasty reduction. Hmm, still some gas – but what a mouth-watering, mineral flavour this shows. Nothing of the richness or the excess rigour of 99.9% of white Beaujolais. Still a hint of rigour, but this is also a Beaujolais with tension – delicious tension – rejoice !!
Rebuy – Yes

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Although, to an extent, already deployed in Chablis, the last of the candles, ‘smudge-pots,’ trace-heating wires, heat-cannons and windmills were put in place in the Côte d’Or during Wednesday and Thursday.

For the last two nights, they have been put to use with temperatures well below zero Friday-Saturday, after the night before showed roughly 0°C. It seems tough in the Mâconnais too…

The frost of recent years has arrived around the 10th April – it’s 2 weeks earlier in 2026 – but with enough early growth that there will certainly be some yield-reducing damage.

For now, all we can do is watch and take stock – these are sleepless nights for the working vignerons…

Pinot noir and old French toilets – what’s not to love?
1. PDF – just for when the link is no more…
2. Link to study