Doubters of global warming will continue to rail against obvious signs, but while I was in Burgundy for Harvest 2025, it was hard to ignore the facts about the effects.

This year was extremely hot, and there were vineyards being harvested on some of the earliest days on record.  At one domaine, the harvest dates had been written on the cellar beams in chalk for five generations – and they varied from late October to this year’s August 27.

Since I had been so lucky with hitting harvest day for Le Montrachet, I decided to ride my mauve bike Maude 23 km to the north to take my chances at Le Romanée-Conti.

This long ride took some time, but as I got closer, there were many crews picking in Aloxe-Corton, Ladoix-Serrigny, Pernand-Vergelesses, Nuits-Saint-Georges, and finally in Vosne-Romanée .  I spoke with one group – none were surprised I’d flown from Canada to watch the harvest.

At the famous vineyard marker, there was a large Arabic-speaking picking crew, and four people supervising who appeared to be winemakers and/or producers.  In my happy, fervent imagination, they were the co-owners of the clos.

I was quite moved – I mean, this plot of land produces some of the most expensive wine in the world – upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars a bottle.  And I had managed, yet again, to arrive at the right time on the right date.  If I had tried to make this happen, I wouldn’t have been able to.

Eventually, Mauve and I left to have a well-earned lunch in Nuits-Saint-George with a glass of this wine by Gerard Boyer, Aux Gravains. 

On the eyes, it was a deep straw, with lemon meringue and delicate white flowers on the nose.  The palate was lemon and yellow apple, with a minerality all nestled nicely on a slice of toast. Beautifully developed with a balance between delicacy and power. Absolutely solid.

It complemented my chèvre salad perfectly and filled me up for a happy ride back to Beaune.

The next day, I was lucky to be part of a family and friends sorting table for grapes from Fixin and the Côte-de-Nuits.  I could participate only because no one was being paid.  It reminded me just how much work goes into harvesting grapes, sorting, destemming and processing the juice – to say nothing of the work in the vineyard – and eventually bottling, marketing and selling the product.

I left Burgundy after 10 days with a solid appreciation of that work – and the effects of the worrisome creep of climate change on the culture and industry of wine.