Claude Kolm
Claude Kolm
Not the en primeur stuff, but the current economic situation. The 2012Beaujolais vintage was a catastrophe in quantity, and when I was tasting in the Côte d'Or producers there offered estimates of the number of bankruptcies in the Beaujolais by Christmas this year -- with a low of 300 and a high of 700. Unlike the U.S., there is no chance for reorganization in France -- it is straight liquidation.
On the Côte de Beaune, the situation is also quite serious, especially for the Meursault to Beaune sector. E.g., Jean-Marc Roulot said that each of his plots lost 50-80% of the production of a normal vintage. With 2010 and 2011 also being small harvests, the total of the last three vintages is only two vintages worth of wine. If you're a big name and especially if you've got other sources of money, this is an inconvenience, but if you're producing primarily village and regional wines with maybe some less fashionable premiers crus, it's a real hardship, perhaps threatening your survival.
Côte de Nuits is a small vintage in quantity, but much better than Côte de Beaune and the producers there told me that they can get by. Côte Chalonnaise apparently has quality and quantity for 2012 (with negociants sure to flock down there to make up for Côte d'Or quantities that they're missing in 2012), but Mercurey and especially Rully were very badly hit by hail in 2011, so they were just a year early.
Everyone says that the quality of what little there is in Burgundy is excellent.
Champagne is a disaster with yields of 5-10 hl/ha at some estates I know of, although they have reserve stocks to help smooth things out.
Alsace and south of France said by producers I've spoken with to be very good in both quality and quantity. I've heard bad things about the western part of France, but don't have specifics.
On the Côte de Beaune, the situation is also quite serious, especially for the Meursault to Beaune sector. E.g., Jean-Marc Roulot said that each of his plots lost 50-80% of the production of a normal vintage. With 2010 and 2011 also being small harvests, the total of the last three vintages is only two vintages worth of wine. If you're a big name and especially if you've got other sources of money, this is an inconvenience, but if you're producing primarily village and regional wines with maybe some less fashionable premiers crus, it's a real hardship, perhaps threatening your survival.
Côte de Nuits is a small vintage in quantity, but much better than Côte de Beaune and the producers there told me that they can get by. Côte Chalonnaise apparently has quality and quantity for 2012 (with negociants sure to flock down there to make up for Côte d'Or quantities that they're missing in 2012), but Mercurey and especially Rully were very badly hit by hail in 2011, so they were just a year early.
Everyone says that the quality of what little there is in Burgundy is excellent.
Champagne is a disaster with yields of 5-10 hl/ha at some estates I know of, although they have reserve stocks to help smooth things out.
Alsace and south of France said by producers I've spoken with to be very good in both quality and quantity. I've heard bad things about the western part of France, but don't have specifics.