2017 is my fifth vintage. I am therefore beginning to understand the personality of each of my terroirs, a little as if they were friends. I really like to bring my plots closer to humans. Between anecdotes and technical data, I tell you about my 2017 vintage.

2017 in Burgundy

The 2017 vintage in Burgundy is:

• Higher than average temperatures.
• Lower precipitation than in previous years.
• Returns up from previous difficult years.
• Harvest at the end of August.

Flowering takes place around May 28, which brings this vintage closer to 2012 and 2014 in terms of earliness.

During the growing season from April to September, we received 322 mm of rain. The average being rather at 391mm, the year is therefore a little in deficit over this period. The average temperature was 17.3°C compared to 15.85°C in normal times.

With below-average rainfall and above-average temperatures, it is therefore not surprising that ripening took place faster than expected and that we had to bring forward the date of the harvest.

After a series of analyzes carried out on the bunches, we decided to start the harvest on August 28.

Flower has not been very favorable on our Chardonnays, juice yields are a little disappointing. Fortunately, the vine had a generous fruit set, which allows us to obtain yields between 35 to 55 hl /ha.

On the Pinot Noir, the flower has gone better. The estate is mostly on old vines in pinot noir, which allows us to have fairly regular yields between 35 to 45 hl / ha.

The quality of the harvest is superb with nice balance in white and perfect sanitary condition in red.

Which style of wine for 2017?

From the start of bottling, the vintage is readable and greedy. This is still the case today after 2 years of bottling.

I have read that some critics find that Pinot Noir can be too light.

I am quite regularly disgusted by the ways some journalists use to create general benchmarks for certain vintages.

With my friends, one of our favorite games is blind tasting. It is an exercise that we try to practice as often as possible and it is very rare that our palates manage to recognize a vintage even in vintages that are sometimes diametrically opposed.

Tell me, then, what is the point of wanting to standardize weather data that is not consumerist through the codes of consumer journalists?

For example, the red Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot is one of my favourites. This is really the style of Pinot that I like. Fine and elegant. The color is not very intense but the bouquet is spicy and the blood orange is refreshing in the mouth. If you are looking for wood, extraction and structure, move on.

Armand Heitz