Nice!
Merry Xmas indeed!
You folks on that side of the pond are so lucky!
Hell….I can’t even get rid of a case of 08 Dugat-Py Mazi for $350/btl. I think it’s all about not only GC’s from the big names but also the big vintages. 2011s will be available for cheaper than release over the next 6-12 months as people who wanted to keep their allocations will be selling them at losses. I’ve already started to see this.
In that scenario it might be the producer not the vintage. At least it would be for me.
Agree with Justin. To move '06, '07, '08, '11, you have to discount all but the biggest names and vineyards. So anything but Rousseau, Roumier, DRC (from initial price), Mugnier, etc. '08 Dugat-Py ‘Mazis Chamb’ doesn’t seem like a good deal at $350. Maybe at $190 it will move!
This works okay for me: I’ve had pretty good luck so far with 06s and 07s, and I’m bullish on many 08s. As Jay likes to say, ripe fruit isn’t necessarily a flaw.
No worries about price hikes here. Still plenty of 09s and 2010s out there I’d like to buy. If they want to charge more for 2011s and 2012s they can try but they can’t force anyone to buy them. I will either buy those vintages on the inevitable closeouts or keep buying 09s and 10s.
Sipping on a 2009 Elio Grasso Gavarini Vigna Chiniera Barolo I picked up a few days ago on a whim and a 95 TWA score… for $60-$70 easily a match for a lower-end Burgundy Grand Cru. Despite the alleged 14.5 alcohol this is delicate and nuanced enough I’d be shocked if the vast majority of Pinot Noir fans wouldn’t find this hugely enjoyable. So there is an alternative folks!
I’ve bought some 09s selectively (Chandon de Briailles Ile!) after Maureen’s tasting a couple of years ago, but am still wary of over-ripeness. You still think these will come out well in the end, by and large, I take it.
Hell….at $190/btl…I’d buy it back all day. Some aren’t a fan of the style and these seem to require a great deal of patience. D-P seems to be a very polarizing Burg amongst many though not sure why. For me, my preference is Leroy, Dujac and DRC in that order but that’s likely due to my preference for concentration. It’s because of this concentration that I typically prefer these three in almost any vintage. I do think, though, that we’re going to see the Burg bubble burst before too long. Regardless of how limited these wines are……people will simply jump to the Northern Rhone or Barolo as both can offer subtlety and complexity along with lower production. It’s a cycle and I think given today’s Burg prices….their time is about up. Once you price out the loyal long time consumers…all you’re left with is the Asian market being catered to by brokers, dealers and auction houses and the Asians are a finicky bunch in their buying habits.
I don’t think I’ve had any 09s I’d call overripe. If there’s a criticism, it’s that they can be a bit soft - not much tension or muscle. I have no qualms about cellaring them, though. I think there is a chance it may turn out to be one of those mythical years (yeah, they say this every great vintage and it always turns out dead wrong) that never really shuts down. At the very least I think it will offer very flexible drinking windows and be a very useful vintage to have in the cellar for that reason. And some are truly profound (like that Ile).
We should do another 2010 tasting before that window of opportunity closes.
I love how 2009 has become the ‘it’s too good and tasty’ vintage. 2009 sounds just like another vintage where things were a little too easy and the total crop was too large; 1999. Now '99 is universally hailed as maybe the best vintage in the last 30 years. I’m buying '09s with both hands, all I can find at reasonable prices. When 2009 is offered cheap to 2011, you know the world has gone nuts!
and apparently it has.
I haven’t gotten the same markers on 09 that I got on 99 but I think you make a great point about the ripeness and size of the vintage. I’ve bought some; I need to buy more.
My guess is there is a lot of very good 2008, 2009 and 2010. 2010 is my favorite of these (at the moment), but I expect the 2009s to also turn out quite well. I have a friend who believes they remind him of young 1985s.
I don’t remember the '99s on release tasting much like the '09s. I am one of the people who was a bit frightened by the ripeness of the '09s when they first started showing up (if a de Montille Corton served blind is universally identified as a ripe CA pinot you start to worry) but the ones I’ve tried more recently have firmed up nicely so I’m much happier with the vintage. I still prefer '08 and '10 but I’m not down on '09 any more.
I wasn’t around to taste young 1985s so I can’t comment on that comparison.
Even some 2003s are starting to settle down, which gives me some confidence about the 2009s.
I agree. The closest vintage stylistically to the 2009s is 1990. Very mixed bag, but some really fantastic wines there.
That wine and the wines of Andrea Sottimano of Barbaresco are my favorite Piemonte/nebbiolo wines. The 1999-2001s of both were/are great.
Not sure if either is a match for grand cru burg…(I did a blind test with Mr. Sottimano in 2012 and no one was fooled.), but on their own…worth backfilling for great wines.
Especially compare to Bordeaux FGs. ![[wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif "wink"){kind=small}
Not that I am complaining but I often wonder why Chave price is so stagnant.
I keep wondering about the 2003s beating the odds 20-30 years down the road. Very tempting since pricing is some of the lowest around after 2004.