I spent a week in Beaune tasting across top domaines and the Hospices de Beaune, getting an in-depth look at the challenging but promising 2024 and 2025 vintages. Despite heavy rain, mildew pressure, and very low yields, many producers crafted impressive wines through rigorous sorting and careful winemaking.

Highlights included Domaine Dujac, where the 2024s showed purity and balance, and Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair, which, despite severe crop losses, produced intensely concentrated wines. Tastings with Pascal Marchand, Benjamin Leroux, and Domaine Georges Noëllat showed both the variability and brilliance of the vintage.

Overall, the whites—especially from Meursault—are a clear success: vibrant, precise, and age-worthy. The reds are more uneven but can be excellent where yields were tightly controlled. My takeaway: 2024 is a small, terroir-driven vintage with standout whites and selectively excellent reds, while 2025 looks equally promising, though limited in quantity.

Marvels on the Margins lands in Alto Piemonte—the alpine, Nebbiolo-powered corner of northern Piedmont that I’ve quietly been drinking (and loving) more than any other. Long misunderstood as a “Plan B” to Barolo, this region reveals itself as a parallel universe of Nebbiolo: higher acidity, finer tannins, volcanic and sandy soils, and a thrilling ability to pair red wine with fish. From the iron-rich power of Gattinara to the silken, marine-sand elegance of Lessona, and from near-extinction to a modern renaissance led by producers like Roberto Conterno and Christoph Künzli, Alto Piemonte is no longer a margin—it’s one of Italy’s most exciting places to drink right now.

Just back from Beaune, and the 2024s and 2025s are absolutely captivating! From Dujac’s elegant Morey Saint Denis to the Hospices de Beaune’s tiny but stunning reds and whites, and Pascal Marchand’s Vosne-Romanée and Pommard shining with power and finesse—there’s so much to explore. Meursault proves to be the sweet spot of 2024 with vibrant, floral, mineral whites, and Lafarge, Lafarge-Vial, and Comtes Lafon deliver stunning Volnays and Pulignys. Small harvests, huge character—read on for full tasting notes and all the standout wines.