September is always one of the busiest months at a winery, but this year, harvest came early across many parts of France. Domaine Geantet-Pansiot was no exception. With the grapes ripening earlier than expected, even the office team had barely returned from their summer break before heading straight into the vineyards to help with harvest.
The domaine finished its 2026 harvest last weekend. We caught up with the team shortly afterwards to hear about the growing season, the decisions they made during harvest, and the first impressions from the cellar.
The 2026 growing season
The year started on a promising note, with good flowering in spring. After a relatively mild winter, the team had initially been concerned about mildew pressure. But dry conditions, combined with careful vineyard work, meant mildew ultimately caused no problems at all.
The real challenge was water.
The summer was extremely warm and dry, and the vineyards were short of water throughout the season. The grapes arrived at harvest highly concentrated and with high sugar levels, but in very good condition.
The downside was yield. The domaine currently expects the 2026 crop to be only around one-third of a normal harvest, roughly in line with 2024. The final numbers will become clearer after pressing.
Hail affected Marsannay Blanc Les Vaudenelles, Marsannay Blanc and a small part of Marsannay Rouge. The team was still able to harvest part of these vineyards, and so far the resulting wines do not appear to have suffered any significant impact.
The fires around Marsannay and Couchey also caused no damage to the domaine's vineyards, with the closest plots at least 500 metres away from the affected area.
First impressions from the cellar
It is far too early to define the style of the 2026 vintage, but the first juices are already showing good depth, plenty of flavour and, importantly, balance.
Potential alcohol levels also look good.
For the team, it is very much a vintage where they would have loved to have more grapes, but they are extremely happy with the quality nature has given them.
Winemaking has only just begun, however, and there will still be plenty of fine-tuning along the way. We will follow the wines as they develop rather than trying to define the vintage too early.
Picking one week earlier than planned
One of the key decisions this year was to begin harvest a full week earlier than originally planned.
By the time the office team returned from their summer break, the grapes had already reached sufficient maturity. They quickly joined the vineyard team to help with harvest. It made for a hectic start, but in the end the domaine was able to bring in everything as planned.
Timing was particularly important for some of the domaine's best parcels.
With around 20mm of rain forecast, the team adjusted the picking schedule to bring these vineyards into the cellar before the rain arrived. The aim was simple: to avoid diluting fruit that had already reached the desired maturity and to preserve the concentration and character of these terroirs.
A vintage spent waiting for rain
When we asked what made 2026 particularly memorable, the answer was simple: waiting for water.
Rain — or rather the lack of it — was at the centre of conversations throughout the growing season.
In the end, the much-needed water never really came. The drought resulted in an exceptionally small crop, but the domaine is very happy with the quality of the fruit it was able to harvest.
So far, Domaine Geantet-Pansiot's 2026 vintage can be summed up quite simply:
Very little wine, but very promising quality.
Now, the rest is up to the cellar — and time.
Photo: sunset over the vineyards during the 2026 harvest, shared by Domaine Geantet-Pansiot.
Originally written in Chinese. English translation assisted by AI.
