The last time we saw Michel Arcelain, he was all smiles. He had just finished his 68th grape harvest here in Burgundy, and he said that never in all his years had he seen anything like 2018. That, we thought, was saying something! 2009 was the last what you might call ‘normal’ harvest: reasonable quantity...

It’s always good to be home, to get back to Burgundy. But our long absence means that a huge pile of mail and a long to-do list await our return. So we usually allow a few days to regroup before we announce to the world that we are back in action. (more…)

In 2014, the violent hail storms that once again ravaged Burgundy, and pulverized (for the third consecutive year) the vines of Pommard and Volnay, broke the spirit of the region. Until then, a mood of optimism had started to take hold, because, finally, after four small harvests, there was a good crop on the vines....

Burgundy 2013 was yet another small crop. The fourth in as many years. Some of it will be very good, in both red and white. But for some producers, it was a disaster. As we always do, let’s start with a run-down of the weather conditions over the growing season (what the locals tellingly call...

We have resisted writing the Elden Selections Burgundy 2015 harvest report until now, mainly to let the hub-bub and hyperbole settle down, but more importantly to be sure that the claims we are about to make are justified. (more…)

After the excitement of the annual wine auction at the Hospices de Beaune, we went to the Hospices’ cuverie to pick up our prized barrel. It’s a Volnay 1er Cru ‘Santenots’ Cuvee Gauvin and we’re as excited today as we were at the event. (more…)

At this time in 2012, the mood was dour here in Burgundy. We were in the middle of a four-month period of rain and miserable cold. Hail storms had machine-gunned huge swaths of the Côte de Beaune. And the threat of rot dangled over the vineyards. (more…)

Generous Burgundy This past weekend the Domaine Rapet Pere et Fils in Pernand-Vergelesses invited their friends for a tasting of 30 vintages of their Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru ‘Ile des Vergelesses going back to 1984. (more…)