Beaune (France) (AFP)

With a 2019 harvest estimated at 1.2 million hectoliters, one of the smallest in 20 years, the interprofession of Burgundy wines presented Sunday, before the famous sale of Hospices de Beaune, a vintage marked by volumes at half-mast but also its "freshness" and its "greediness".

"2019 is a singular year and extremely contrasted", marked in particular by "volumes well below an average year" (or 1.4 million hectoliters, ed), said François Labet, president of the Bureau interprofessionnel des vins de Bourgogne (BIVB), during a press conference.

These figures are "lower than 2016", a year yet marked by a historically low harvest and "only 2003 is more withdrawn since the year 2000," he added. "This is a decrease of 34% compared to last year," particularly affecting the Mâconnais and crémants.

But the quality of the wines "excites the professionals beyond their expectations", continued Mr. Labet. "The wines of Burgundy display a freshness that will delight fans, accompanied by a greed that will seduce them".

A trend that has not spared the area of ​​the Hospices de Beaune, which puts forward "superb" wines but offer for sale Sunday only 589 pieces (barrels of 228 liters), well below the record of 828 pieces put on sale in 2018.

The year 2019, marked by a weather that has left no respite to winemakers, comes after two years that had helped rebuild stocks.

The 2018 vintage, especially, "exceptional" both in quality and quantity, represents "a rare phenomenon, as a winemaker sees only once or twice in his life," according to a statement from the BIVB.

The interprofession has argued, Sunday, the good sales figures of Burgundy wines, including export: up 6.9% in volume over the first eight months of the year (56 million bottles) and 9.3% in value (650 million euros).

This rise is due in particular to the United States, the first export market of Burgundy, "pending the fall" due to the 25% customs duties imposed since the end of October on the other side of the Atlantic, worries the BIVB, which deplores a consequence of a trade jam between Airbus and Boeing.

But "it is not because we know some difficulties of this order there that we must lose interest in the United States, America is irreplaceable for Burgundy," said Louis-Fabrice Latour, Deputy Chair of the Interprofessional Office Burgundy wines.

© 2019 AFP