For the most part the 1998 reds are still a little on the young side at the premier and grand cru level (at least to my palate), but they are getting closer, and a few more years should serve them very well. I recently had bottles of the '98 Chambolle “Gruenchers” from Domaines Dujac and Fourrier that was simply singing, but '98 Musigny from Freddy Mugnier and '98 Griotte from Jean-Marie Fourrier were still at least five years away from their peak, and I had the sense that the bottles really were wasted being opened at this point in time (except of course for informational purposes). Similarly, at the premier cru level, Georges Mugnieret Chambolle “Feusselottes” and Chambolle “les Cras” from Christophe Roumier were still a few years away, so it is a vintage that I would hold on pretty much across the board at the premier or grand cru level. Even the '98 Georges Mugneret Bourgogne could still use another year or two to my palate. But some of the village wines, such as Coche-Dury Auxey-Duresses and Monthelie have been go-to wines in my cellar for a year or two now and they are drinking beautifully.
Which brings up a purchasing point in terms of red Burgundy which I have been practicing the last several years that may be of use to some folks who are concerned about their wines potential longevity versus their own, and that is buying more early-maturing red Burgs in each vintage, from appellations like Auxey-Duresses or village wines from top producers in the Cote de Nuits. I have been routinely buying more village wine etc from my favorite producers as I have gotten older, simply because I find that there are certain times of the week, certain crowds or with certain meals where they make more sense to pull, and the pleasure that can be derived from wines at this level should not be underestimated. They come around sooner than the premier or grand crus, so that checking in on a vintage’s evolution can be a lot less painful if one’s curiosity jumps the gun a bit, and drinking mature village wines can really be a delightful way to get started on a vintage as it starts to round into form- particularly if one has a goodly supply of premier and grand crus waiting in the wings. It is a purchasing strategy that I wish I had practiced earlier (when most of my buying was focused on premier and grand crus), as I would love to have a pile of village wines from vintages like 1988 or 1993 sitting in the cellar now that I could be wading into, rather than just looking at the upper appellations which still deserve more bottle age to my palate.
But as a general rule of thumb for red Burgundies and their evolutionary cycles, I am pretty much am in line with Allen in terms of not wanting to even start drinking my premier crus until the 20 year mark and grand crus usually taste better at 30 than they do at 20. While this can be discouraging for those with relatively young cellars, the recent dichotomies in the market still make a fairly good selection of back vintages available on the market if one keeps their eyes open, as vintages like 1998 and 2001 can still be found languishing in merchants’ stocks on occasion, and where they have been well-stored, they can offer a head start. Similarly, the promise of 2009 is going to make 2007 reds very good values down the road, and this is a vintage that looks like it will drink well much earlier than most recent top vintages, and should not be ignored when it starts to languish in the excitement surrounding the 2009s as they begin to be offered pre-arrival and on merchants’ shelves.
Best,
John
Wow, John, thank you for the insightful answer to my inquiry!
Somehow, I passed by it in a mad race to try and quickly review all/most of the posts during the day!
I’ve got only a couple bottles of '98, but I now know to wait it out a bit.
Are there any ‘value’ vintages that are available at auction or otherwise that you would recommend in a good drinking window now?
To add to Todd’s question, KL has an abundance of 87s at everything from village to GC level that they picked up from a cellar acquisition. What’s the vintage quality of 87s and 88s?
Hi Todd and Rob,
I have had a few 1987s recently that were surprisingly still sound and tasty, but in general it was my impression that it was a “shooting star” vintage and was fatiguing a bit by the late 1990s. But Burgundy some times circles around again (as the '85s have done- eight to ten years ago seemingly at their peaks and perhaps beginning to soften up a bit and sliding over the far side of the plateau- but now firmer, deeper and more tangy than they were a decade ago and blossoming to even greater heights). The '88s are still on the young side for the most part, and it is not as consistent of a vintage as we are accustomed to today, so one has to pick and choose a bit with this vintage. If you want to email me what is available from KL at jbgilman@ix.netcom.com I can let you know what I may have tasted recently in terms of specific wines.
In terms of hunting for Burgundy bargains at auction, a couple of vintages that I look at closely now are 1986 and 1992 for reds, as there are some splendid wines to be found from both of these vintages that are drinking beautifully today, and if you are willing to go a bit further back, I have had some really splendid 1979 red Burgundies lately as well. The other really good way to get values at auction is to look for producers who may today be a bit below the radar, but who were making top wines a few years ago. To give an example, a group I taste with regularly went in on a lot of grand crus from Mongeard-Mugneret wines from 1989, 1990 and 1991, and we paid around $100 per bottle (maybe less) on average for the wines- including a chunk of 1991 Richebourg. We did a tasting with the single bottles, and the wines uniformly showed superbly well (1990 Clos Vougeot, 1989 and 1991 Echezeaux V.V., 1989 and 1991 Grands Echezeaux, 1991 Richebourg)- and these were flat out steals at the prices we paid.
Another way to search out values is to buy appellations that are less desirable from producers who are generally recognized for other wines in their cellars. For example, Nuits “Clos de la Marechale” from Freddy Mugnier is not considered desirable to those searching for his Amoureuses, Bonnes-Mares and Musigny, but it is a great wine and generally available widely. Similarly the Nuits “Chaignots” from Mugneret-Gibourg, the Charmes-Chambertin or Morey “Clos de la Bussiere” from Christophe Roumier, the Clos Vougeot or Corton from Jean-Nicolas Meo, the Morey Premier Cru from Domaine Dujac, Beaune “Greves” from Joseph Drouhin- all of these can offer really outstanding value versus other wines in the producers’ portfolios, and there are dozens and dozens more like this. I wrote an article a few years ago that highlighted strategies for buying new or older vintages of red Burgundy for those that want to seek out the best values, and I would be happy to send it to anyone who is interested, or you can sign up for a two week trial at Cellar Tracker and look at it through the database there. It is called “An Insider’s Guide To Burgundy Sleepers” and can be found in Issue 4.
Best,
John
Thanks for the response. I emailed you the list of 87s and 88s available. Let me know if you see any potential diamonds in the rough.