2024 Harvest Updates (Rougeot, Bertrand, Saint-Cyr)

Domaine Rougeot

“It’s not a big harvest, but there’s a good chance that it will turn into some beautiful wines,” says Pierre-Henri Rougeot. It was the first thing we asked about when we recently arrived in Meursault during the aftermath of harvest for an intimate paulée with the team at the winery.

2024 has been a trying year for winemakers, and Burgundy was no exception. While only a few areas were frosted right at the flowering stage and/or were hit with hailstorms, most had to deal with persistent rains through the summer. The conditions were therefore especially propitious for the spread of fungal diseases, most notably downy mildew. Constant precipitation made for hard work in the vines, as topical treatments would just wash off of the leaves. The play of temperatures and the intermittent sunlight resulted in relatively late ripeness and harvesting dates that were difficult to pinpoint.

Despite the circumstances, 2024 was destined to be an exceptional year in the case of the Rougeot family, as the vintage marked 50 years of harvest for Marc, Pierre-Henri’s father. The celebration was full of reminiscence of previous years and yields. The harvesters all recalled stories from vintages during the 1980s, and fairly soon, comparisons with the vintage of 1983 were brought to the table: a cold and rainy spring, short spikes of heat, and changing weather in the summer through September resulted in wines that surprised everyone with their emotion and graceful longevity.

The lower yields for this year—about ⅓ of the potential volumes for the reds and ½ for the whites—were managed with all the more rigorous sorting. According to Pierre-Henri, the principal focus of the work this year happened at triage. The long and meticulous sorting revealed exceptional and exciting fruit that he can’t wait to accompany as it transforms and develops over the next 18 months.

Yann Bertrand

We arrived at Yann Bertrand’s the following day, right after the team had finished harvesting in Lantignié. The fruit in Fleurie had already been picked a week earlier. Given the high humidity, precipitation, and little sunlight, the differences in altitude across parcels led to the grapes ripening at even wider intervals than they typically do.

 
2024 marks Yann’s second year vinifying in his new cellar, and it has so far been an absolute joy. The isolation maintained temperatures at a favorable level as the grapes were first brought in. Later, with fermentations kicking in, Yann was able to keep a close eye and maintain ideal conditions for vinification.

The vineyards in Beaujolais were also heavily  affected by the spread of downy mildew. Between that and a violent hailstorm, losses amounted to a little less than 50% across all parcels. Otherwise everything looks very promising, with a low pH reminiscent of a vintage like 2014—a standout at the winery.

Given the presence of dried out berries and fungal disease in the vines, the main technical objective for Yann is to minimize specifically the action of laccases. In order to do that, Yann works on short and strict carbonic macerations with frequent draining in order to reduce contact with the skins to a bare minimum. Fermentations at this point should not halt or even slow down, so he’s prepared some starters cultivating the same indigenous yeasts in case he needs to kickstart a tank or give it a boost.

Although some of the challenges resemble those of 2023, the difference this year is a higher acidity, a much lower yield, and the presence of some truly gorgeous Gamay. Considering the increasing variability in vintages that we’re witnessing over the past few years, as well as the drastic shifts in climate conditions, two things have become abundantly clear to Yann: The first is that one can only gain by diversifying, whether in the realm of rootstock, massale selections, or methods in the vines / cellar. The second is that anyone making wine today has got to do their homework if they want to pull through. It’s precise technical knowledge that guides each of his choices and allows his work to express itself.

Domaine Saint-Cyr

Over at Domaine Saint-Cyr, the grapes ripened over the span of three weeks, starting during the first week of September with the most precocious grapes. Losses this year were rather significant, hitting the whites the hardest, as Chardonnay yielded almost ⅓ of potential. This year, all of the Chardonnay is going towards the 2024 Gallong.

Gallong, inaugurated with the 2022 harvest, marks a new chapter in the evolution of craft and know-how at the winery. This successor to the white Galoche distinguishes itself with its long aging over two winters. This allows Raphaël to work on the wine until it is fully ready for bottling, without having recourse to intrusive manipulations that are incompatible with the vision he has of his work and craft. The Galoche white will henceforth only be produced in years with more abundant yields, center-stage being now given to Gallong.

For this wine: the direct press does its fermentation in stainless steel tanks, and then is racked just before the lees are all settled, into various containers—including old foudres—in order to age the required time before being bottled the second spring following. The resulting wine is energetic and layered, and most importantly for Raph, he’s proud and is excited to share it with everyone around him.

“When I made that choice in 2022, that became a new guiding principle and I’m keeping to it.” The history of the winery is a history of such choices of conviction. In 2016, the first carbonic maceration on Galoche, generalized in 2017 to all of the Cru wines marks the beginning. The complete elimination of mechanical harvesting came shortly after. It’s been a long journey in this relatively short time, and Raph gives credit to the people he met and supported him, his colleagues at the Biojolaise, and all the other winemakers who showed him alternative ways to make wine.

Raphaël refuses to let difficulties, hardship, or failures stop him and dictate the way forward. He knows what kind of wine he wants to make and his commitment to work for more life on the land, in the cellar, and in the bottle remains strong. Anything else would just be giving up.