Burgundy’s Earliest Harvest Ever
Working with the 2026 harvest team for Icy Liu in the Côte de Nuit-Villages
As we all know, it’s been a hot year in Europe thus far; so hot that roughly 16,000 people have died this summer due to the excessive conditions and the general lack of A/C across the continent. I’m one of the more pessimistic people you’ll find these days when it comes to climate change (because I think we’re already past the point of no return). For my standing, we’re in full-blown climate collapse, meaning we’re all royally fucked and you’d better enjoy your life while you still can. That’s why I decided to head out to Burgundy this week to kick off a few bucket list items before armageddon. I wanted to work a harvest in the Côte d’Or and it just so happened this was the earliest harvest in over 500 years. Had it been a week later, I wouldn’t have been able to attend.
Not only has Burgundy been producing wine for centuries, it’s one of the most heavily-documented regions on the planet when it comes to vineyards and production. There are meticulous records going back a millennium, so we know without a doubt that it’s never been this hot in Burgundy. The grapes have never ripened this quickly. We’re completely without precedent here. You can tell from listening to the growers, the pickers, and the other vignerons at the winery where I’ve been working that everything is up in the air. People were so caught off guard by the start date that many have been scrambling to find enough people to complete the harvest. Nerves are on edge. The tension is thick.
Guillaume, Icy, and Mohammed getting the bins ready for harvest
How did I get myself into this situation? Well, I’ve worked in the industry for nearly twenty years at this point, so I made a few calls and reached out to Icy Liu from the Becky Wasserman group who also has a wine label under her own name. Like many producers in the region, she had planned to pick later in the month and was scrambling to get a team together this week. Despite my lack of experience in the vineyard, I am able-bodied, capable of driving a large van with a stick shift, and relatively savvy when it comes to hand trucks and pallet jacks. There were worse people out there she could have teamed up with for the 2026 harvest. So here I am.
For the last four days, I’ve been waking up at 5 AM, walking from my hotel room in the center of Beaune over to Icy’s house, and driving the harvest van to the various vineyard locations each day. On Monday, we harvested at at vineyard called Les Fonds in Fleurie, about an hour’s drive away in Beaujolais. On Tuesday, it was just outside of Corgoloin at the Au Clou vineyard in the Côte de Nuit-Villages. Yesterday, it was just south of Nuit-St-George, harvesting Bourgogne Rouge. Icy and I manage the fruit as it comes in, then head back to the cuverie later in the morning to sort, destem, and start the vinification process, then clean everything up. Tomorrow, we’ll do the same thing all over again in Santenay.
Making wine in Burgundy has been something I’ve wanted to do since I acquired a taste for pinot noir roughly two decades ago. While I have no aspirations to be a winemaker, I’m someone who believes trial-by-fire, hands-on experience is the most valuable process a human being can partake in. The 2026 vintage in Burgundy is going to be an absolutely crazy one. The potential alcohol levels are high, but the acidity is still intact. The Bourgogne Rouge we harvested yesterday was juicy and dark, perfectly ripe and delicious. Yet, I’ve seen bunches from other producers coming in dried and shriveled on the vine. Those who picked this week will be rewarded.
I’m sure the harshest critics will eventually tell us how charming the 2026 vintage tastes when its eventually released, while questioning the durability for long-term aging. That being said, if the climate keeps heating up the way it did this year, I don’t think the long-term potential of anything, let alone 2026 Burgundy, will be one of our top concerns.
-David Driscoll