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Review with Charles Philipponnat
How did the 2024 harvest unfold?
We began harvesting in mid September, later than we had initially expected, because we had to wait for the grapes to reach full ripeness, particularly in those places where the vines cropped more heavily, in the pin blocks. Fortunately, good weather arrived at the beginning of September and continued throughout the harvest. The spring frosts in May, uneven flowering in June, and rainfall two to three times above average in the summer did not impact the quality of the fruit. Quite the opposite in fact, and we are very optimistic about the quality of the year’s wine-to-be! Still, this did lead to mildew-prone land. In Philipponnat vineyards, strict biocontrol methods were applied, and they were effective. For all that, in July we had to resort to some conventional treatments to prevent losses from exceeding 40%. Our goal is to bring in quality fruit to make wine: good wine. The extremely humid summer demanded an enormous amount of hard work, and drove us to extreme reactivity. In hindsight, we made the right decisions, because the quality of the fruit speaks for itself.
Is it very different from the previous year’s harvest?
There’s no comparison! In 2023, the harvest was uneven: the excellent yield made it possible to overcome the botrytis-affected crop. In 2024, we were able to almost completely avoid sorting grapes at harvest, thanks to their beautiful quality and ripeness. The grapes are healthy, presenting elevated malic acid levels, a measure of freshness for the wines that are currently completing fermentation. The Chardonnay ripened later than the Pinot Noir this year, which is unusual. The red grapes, on the other hand, though affected by the adverse weather during the growing season, behaved themselves more as we approached the harvest, although the shatter-affected clusters were smaller in size. However, it was this reduction in yield that allowed us to harvest riper, healthier grapes, which should result in incredibly beautiful wines: dense, intense and bold.
How are the first tastings showing?
2024 will undoubtedly be a vintage that is both ripe and vivacious. Right off the bat, we discovered a potential similar to that of 2012 or 2016. But although the concentration and brightness make 2024 comparable to these rich vintages, their robust acidity is closer to what we saw in the 2013 vintage. It’s still too early to call the end result, but it is a promising year. I am very optimistic about future still-wine tastings, which will begin to come into play at the start of the new year. To be continued!
