The 2020 vintage

We are delighted to offer you this, our 2020 vintage Burgundy ‘en primeur’ offer for Hong Kong. Our senior consultant Anthony Hanson MW’s report on the 2020 follows. I had the good fortune to spend a few days with Anthony in Burgundy during the summer of 2021 and we tased to together some 2020s from barrel at a few estates. Quality and style seems promising in both whites and reds and in all regions we tasted. Of course each producer has put their own stamp on the vintage, and we have real breadth and depth here – 26 estates. So there are many ways to participate in this vintage.

2020 Burgundy Growing Season and Harvest
Introduction by Our Resident Senior Consultant
Anthony Hanson MW

The weather was clement leading up to the all-important flowering period, which started early, in mid-May. It went through speedily and in favourable weather, which is always a key herald of fine quality. A successful flowering allows all the grapes in a given bunch to come to full ripeness together. It also enables growers to forecast when the grapes will change colour, come to maturity and need harvesting. So from late-May, it was evident that 2020 would be an early harvest. Plans could be laid for early holidaying, and for pickers to be booked for a mid- to late-August start to the vintage.

Temperatures, rain and sunshine fluctuated during June but summer was about to arrive. July was very dry and hot, with several heatwave moments, and some bunches were grilled by the sun. Early August remained dry and hot, and it became apparent that, without rain to swell the grapes, this would be a highly concentrated, low-yield vintage – as proved to be the case. 

It was the driest season since 1945, according to the Dijon weather station, with rainfall 50% down on recent levels, and 20% more sunshine than normal. Growers were concerned that the year might resemble 2003, when an August heat-wave caused leaves to wilt and grapes to shrivel. Fortunately, in 2020 the reserves of water in the soil allowed vines to withstand high temperatures with fortitude, to maximise their natural sugars and to ripen tannins and grape-skins. The dry weather allowed natural acidities to be concentrated, which was a crucial factor, giving superb balance in the resulting wines. On sorting tables, those grapes which had been sunburnt needed to be removed, but otherwise the bunches were immaculately healthy.

The 2020 Reds
Given the heat and dryness of the summer, we were concerned that some of reds would have become over-ripe, with alcohol levels which would dominate their fruit intensity, and that they might lack freshness. It has been a wonderful surprise to taste wines of such vivaciousness, where the terroir origins show forth brilliantly – in many cases, more clearly than in the two previous, powerful, sun-rich vintages, 2019 and 2018. 2020 red Burgundies have superb potential for ageing, and look destined to be hailed as one of Burgundy’s most exciting, recent years. There are great examples at First Growth and Grand Cru levels, and we will also be highlighting many village level and regional wines, which show beautiful quality and lovely value.

The 2020 Whites
In both 2019 and 2018, plentiful summer sunshine resulted in plump, rich wines, which are round and soft – in many cases, already making luscious drinking. The 2020 whites have intense fruitiness, with balancing, crisp, long aftertastes. Individual origins are more clearly delineated than in the two previous vintages. This is a real classic, which may be enjoyed while youthful, but where the best wines have superb concentration, and will age magnificently.

We know that frost damage in April 2021 will mean reduced availabilities of the 2021 vintage, which will be offered next year. Now is a good moment to stock up with 2020s, in both reds and whites, across the quality ranges.

Domaines on offer:
Alvina Pernot
Domaine Amiot-Servelle
Domaine Armand Heitz
Domaine Blain-Gagnard
Domaine Buisson-Charles
Domaine Christian Clerget
Domaine Claude Dugat
Domaine Comte de Vogüé
Domaine Bachelet
Domaine Emmanuel Rouget
Domaine des Epeneaux (Comte Armand)
Etienne Sauzet
Domaine Frédéric Esmonin 
Domaine Harmand-Geoffroy
Charles Van Canneyt
Domaine Launay-Horiot
Domaine Laurent Roumier
Les Horées
Château de la Maltroye
Domaine Paul Pernot
Domaine Perrot-Minot
Pierre Girardin
Domaine Tortochot
Vincent Dancer
Château du Moulin-a-Vent
Domaine Marcel Lapierre

Linden's Buying Guide for 2020 Burgundy En Primeur

We are delighted to offer you this, our 2020 vintage Burgundy ‘en primeur’ offer for Hong Kong. Our senior consultant Anthony Hanson MW’s report on the 2020 follows. I had the good fortune to spend a few days with Anthony in Burgundy during the summer of 2021 and we tased to together some 2020s from barrel at a few estates. Quality and style seems promising in both whites and reds and in all regions we tasted. Of course each producer has put their own stamp on the vintage, and we have real breadth and depth here – 26 estates. So there are many ways to participate in this vintage.

Yields are down on normal in 2020. This year that was caused by a lack of rain during summer, that led to a concentration in berries – sugars, fruit, flavour, and acidity. There is an intensity to the 2020s, but from what I tasted, also a harmony. But that low yield in 2020, combined with what will be an exceptionally low yield for some wines in 2021, means there is a bit of pressure on supply.

What to buy? That’s both hard and easy to answer. Easy, because quality is there across the regions, in both colours, and from regional ‘Bourgogne’ on up through village-level, 1er cru and grand cru. But I would encourage you to buy across these levels – not just because it makes the task of working out an allocation for you easier, but because you will want these wines in your cellar at all levels you drink. Secondly, I think you can really choose on the basis of your taste – the wines I tasted, and as Anthony reports, taste of their place. Terroirs come through in 2020. Finally, I think this is a good vintage in which to include a few things that you might not yet have had the chance to try – the Blain-Gagnard wines, which have just joined our portfolio, are classics, of high quality. Domaine Buisson-Charles, and Catharina Sadde’s ‘Les Horées’ also join the portfolio and are worth your attention. 

An offer, with pricing for Domaines Claude Dugat, Comte Goerges de Vogüé, Laurent Roumier, Perrot-Minot, and Pierre Girardin will follow in a few days’ time. Feel free to express your interest now in these wines.

As always we are here to help. You will be pleased you bought some 2020s when you begin pulling the corks in the future.

For full producer reviews and 2020 price list, please click here.

WHY BUY EN PRIMEUR

The most obvious traditional answer was price. The basic deal was that the best price would be the en primeur or ‘futures’ price – the consumer rewarding the merchant, the merchant rewarding the negocient, the negocient rewarding the châteaux with cash up front, long before anyone would see the finished wine in bottle. This system broke (as it does every few decades or so) with the 2009 and 2010 vintages, where the price of the final delivered wine fell siginicantly below what customers paid en primeur. Price for the 2018s will be something to watch, though fortunately it doesn’t look this year (so far!) like aggressive pricing will be the order of the day.

Of course you are not buying an entire vintage, you are picking out individual wines, so over-performers who nonetheless price ‘normally’ may well prove to make financial sense.

But there are some other reasons to buy en primeur

- Provenance is assured. You will be the first to take delivery of the wine and you will have control over its handling and storage from day one, with all the assurance for preserving condition that that brings. Years down the line that will mean either drinking the wine in its optimal condition, or being able to offer it for re-sale with complete assurance to the next buyer. Everyone benefits from assured provenance.

- Access. It is true that some of these wines appear later in the secondary market in much lower quantities. This is the best chance to ensure you can own what you want.

- Sunk cost. It’s not an obvious one, but taking the pain of the expense now is something akin to savings. The wine will feel like a bonus when it comes to drinking it!

- Choice of bottle formats. If you like to own your favourite wines in a nice mix of halves, magnums and imperials, this is your best – often only – chance to have the wine bottled in formats you want. (Subject to availability and advance ordering).

- If you had a child born in 2020, or got married, this is a very nice way to mark the occasion from the outset – investing in furture anniversaries and birthdays.