Backfill Burgs, Baby

Hi all,

I think we are underestimating the price increases for 2012.

I heard from a reliable source that Grivot is charging over 2000 euros (shit, or maybe that was pounds?) for three bottles of Richebourg this year. That is before mark-ups.

The London pricing will come out in a few weeks. Hope I’m proven wrong, but I suspect my jaw will drop when I look at the lists.

If you are thinking of backfilling, it might be smart to do so now, before the impact of the new pricing trickles back.

the mantra has been “backfill” for years already, probably since the 05 vintage.

Very true. And the ironic thing will be in ten years time, when prices have increased still further, people will be backfilling with Grivot 2012.

I’ve really stopped caring what people will pay for current releases. If they can get people to pay, good luck to them, but this is beginning to have all the signs of a small bubble.

This is what I love about WB, I buy too much wine already and proven that I have very poor impulse control when it comes to “good buying opportunities”.

Thanks Brady for feeding the fire with petrol!

[cheers.gif] Brodie

Indubitably… [highfive.gif]

TTT

Hi Brady, I think I’m done now. Until about a year ago there were always good buys to be had if one looked hard enough, but no more. I can’t afford the wines I like any more. Luckily I have enough, though if prices go much higher I will feel compelled to sell them all and switch to drinking cocktails.
Though it has to be said that Grivot has a reputation in the trade for being a greedy sod, and those who sell his wines find some of them pretty hard to shift.

Well to be honest, the prices I’ve seen from Panzer so far I thought were very reasonable.

Been backfilling and preparing for the burg apocalypse the past few months. Even buying them off restaurant lists. Fully expect to be shut out of the stuff I want or gouged so bad I won’t mind passing.

Things don’t look so grim, if you are willing to settle for fine wines that don’t carry the grand cru label. Just got an email from Envoyer – 2012 Pavelot Dominodes for $45.

That’s just one wine, so we’ll see how things go as more offers appear in the marketplace.

Some of us gauge our wine purchases based on actuarial data… [shrug.gif]

No sense in major purchasing of current Burgundy vintages given my age.
2005 was my last major splurge (and perhaps even that was a bit ambitious).
Lighter vintages like 2007 and selected 2009s are good for mid term and I’ve done some damage there.

TTT

I was speaking someone today as he was ringing me up for some 05’s. When he mentioned the upcoming price hikes I mentioned that so far the 12’s I saw were not so bad. He replied wait for the big boys.

what’d you buy, Nick, and when do we get a shot at them?!

That pretty much sums up my view of Burgundy. It is my greatest wine love but the pricing is going beyond anything remotely justifiable. Time to move to Piemonte…

As Kevin said… time to move on to Piedmont, lets not forget Greek Xinomavros!

2012 Burgs? I’m hearing 30%+ price increases on 2011 and allocations slashed to the bone here … so I’ll be buying less … and more Piemonte.

But there are always bargains:

2012 Pavelot Dominodes for $45.

Lee, I’ve just got my 2011s of these, at great prices, and I’m sure I’ll do the same in 2012 …

Cheers, Howard

Ha. I’ll let you know when my belly is full.

Guigal La Las. Chave ‘Hermitage’. Conterno ‘Monfortino’. The world’s greatest wines still at ‘reasonable’ prices (for the best in the world…)

I only wish some other wine hit my pleasure center like Burgundy does. I have bought Piedmont through the 2004 vintage, but very few really excite me to the same degree (well, there is Giacosa!). I think the strategy is to lower my expectations a bit. Now that my favorite producers’ wines are obscenely priced, at least in the U.S., the obvious step is to try “new” producers and less heralded premier crus, and maybe even delve into village wines, which until now I have passed over. Perhaps investigate those less heralded but earlier drinking vintages that i had mostly skipped like 2006 and 2007. And maybe do some backfilling when the prices and provenance seem right. And fondly remember the good old days when buying Rousseau and Dujac et al did not seem such an extravagance.

Was checking some of my old prices paid on CT, very depressing:

2002 Rousseau ‘Clos de la Roche’ $66 per
2003 Rousseau ‘CDLR’ and ‘Charmes Chamb’ $70 per
2002 and 2003 Rousseau Ruchottes Chamb $88 per
1999 and 2002 Rousseau ‘Clos st Jacques’ $112 per
2001 Rousseau ‘Chamb’ and ‘Chamb Beze’ $150 per
1999 and 2002 Rousseau ‘Chamb’ and ‘Beze’ $203 per

And that wasn’t that long ago for all this stuff. From 10 to 6 years ago…

I’ve seen a fair amount of '05’s, often well under what it was at the high peak of it’s over hyped prices, and still cheaper than comparitive '09’s and on.

Best vintage of the last 20+ years, along with '99 and '10…