Post here a great bargain you are willing to share, please name the merchant

Right now, by far my favorite is:

Lucie et Auguste Lignier Morey St. Denis Vielles Vignes Cuvee Romain 2005

$75/ bottle, even better $150/magnum. At Wally’s

This is Hubert Lignier juice, 100 percent, there were family politics, I’ve read a lot about it.

I’ve had it and it’s awesome but very very young. In the words of Richard Leland, “all angles and elbows.”

If you like Clos de la Roche, or anything Morey, and have any money left in your budget, this is an absurd buy.

According to Galloni don’t buy anything Lucie after 2005. I have no idea whether this opinion is valid.

Great idea for a thread George. I haven’t got a bargain in mind at the moment, but when I see one I will post it here

2010 Tortochot Charmes Chambertin for $99 at

MCF Fine Wine in NY. Not sure where you can find Charmes 2010 for that price. Some other threads on Tortochot if you search

2010 Trefethen Oak Knoll Cabernet $17.50 at Ralph’s Supermarket. On clearance shelf. Great price for a not-over-the-top, almost old-time Napa Cab.

Where is Mark B. seems to find the basement bargains

Mv Krug for $125 in South Carolina

I very much like the clos de la roche from 2006, 2008 and 2009. Pretty much stopped paying attention to Galloni after he came out with this.

Your opinion makes more sense than the vintages after 2005 utterly collapsing as Galloni describes.

For those that are interested
Wine outlet in Seattle has a ton of George breur Riesling at dirt cheap pricing:
11’ terra montosa $19
99’ berg gold cap .750’s $39
08’ berg Sh. $39
09’ berg Sh. $39

No. What I said is that I was disappointed by the 2009s and 2010s. That’s it. How hard is it to check before posting something?

This was unpleasant to read, especially as I meant well, did not criticize or disagree with you, and am a paid subscriber of yours.

Also, fairness in a public forum works both ways. Your post here in effect is telling the readers of this board that I exaggerated what you said, and that all you said was that you were “disappointed.” I don’t think your characterization of your own words is adequate (see below). I did not exaggerate (see below).

But I apologize I was incorrect in the vintages. If I am accessing my Vinous accurately, you have not ever reviewed any other vintage of Lucie et Auguste wines than 2009 (although you briefly mention 2010), and I do not know if you have ever tasted any of their wines 2004-2008. I think I wrongly subconsciously assumed that since the winemakers and winemaking completely changed after the 2005 vintage, and you have never said anything positive about the 2006 through 2008 wines, you did not approve of the wines under the new winemakers. But it was only 2009 and 2010 you addressed and I apologize.

If you misunderstood my original post as quoting you as saying verbatim “don’t buy” anything, I am surprised if anyone read it that way.

Here is what I should have said:

“If one follows what Galloni wrote about the 2009 and 2010 Lucie et Auguste wines, don’t buy any of them, he made a point of publishing their scores, all between 60-75, scores he usually does not publish, as a warning to readers. I have no idea whether this opinion is valid. From what I can tell he did not ever review Lucie et Auguste wines in any other vintage so I don’t know what he thinks about the 2004-2008 vintages.” And I still don’t, even though you called me to task for inaccurately including 2006-2008 in my original post. So, what do you think of 2006-2008 L and A wines?

Here is what you said in all of your reviews (after favorable barrel reviews) of the bottled 2009’s. I think the only Lucie et Auguste Lignier wines you have ever reviewed are the 2009’s (formally) and the 2010’s (informally).

You gave each 2009 wine a 60, 70, or 75, and gave the same verbatim review for each one:

"I was deeply disappointed with Kellen Lignier’s 2009s, and 2010s too, to tell the truth. None of the 2009s from bottle showed the sexiness I sensed when I tasted the wines from barrel earlier in 2011. It is impossible for an outsider to know exactly what happened, but the reality is that Lignier’s 2009s are all deeply flawed. I typically do not print reviews for wines that score under 85 points, but in this case the severe drop off in quality from barrel to bottle warranted this significant revision of scores. Unfortunately I can no longer recommend Lignier’s 2009s.’

That’s very important information. To me there is no question but that the 2005’s are outstanding; what is your take on the three vintages between 05 and 09? Is this a systemic problem under the new regime? or in your opinion just limited to 09 and 10?

For those of you in Northern California, Safeway again has their 30% off sale, with an additional 10% off for six bottles of more. The additional 10% took the 2012 Ridge Geyserville and 2012 Ridge Lytton Springs down to $28.34 per bottle. The 2009 Taylor LBV Port comes in at under $16 with that discount. I am not sure how long the sale goes, but these prices are excellent.

Thanks,
Ed

Los Gatos Safeway usually has the Windy Oaks Terra Narro Pinot under $20 in that sale if you get the mixed 6-bottle discount.

Krug GC NV Champagne @ $124.99. Grand Vin Wine Merchants

On the spiral-cut ham thread, I noticed that there are two retailers in WA who might still have the 2012 Donnhoff Estate at $19.99:

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/donnhoff/2012/usa-wa

If you contact D** P***** and ask him to get on his D*** list, you will get some great deals, but the rule is that what you learn on the D*** list cannot be disclosed.

Taylor LBV is terrific.

I ended up taking a pass on a 750 of '86 d’Yquem for 200 at a store called Austin Liquors in Skokie. When I had inquired over the phone, they claimed it came from the store owner’s home cellar, which is probably true. I was going to check it out but decided it was too rich for my blood. They might still have it at the store. I’d be sure to phone ahead to verify though.

Yes, I tasted numerous wines from 2005-2008, but informally i.e. with friends over dinner etc. I found a lot to like in those wines, which is why I added the domaine to my coverage in the first place. When I went the first time, Kellen Lignier told me the other major critics weren’t tasting at her domaine at all. Whether that was her choice or theirs, I don’t know. I thought the 2009s were gorgeous from barrel, but something changed in between the time I tasted the wines from barrel and bottle. My impression is that the wines were bottled too late and as result lost much of their fruit. As a reminder, 2009 is a vintage in which many growers in Burgundy bottled earlier than normal, so the delta here may have been significant. Wines from barrel are much more of a moving target, so I reserved judgement. The cellar was also very dirty. Now, that alone is not a big deal because there are plenty of great wines that emerge from pretty funky places. But when there is an issue, an unclean cellar may be a contributing factor.

I thought it was important to let readers know of the change in these wines, hence the updated scores. That is far different from dismissing an entire set of vintages. I could have just let the old scores stand, and believe me, it was heartbreaking to publish those reviews. Being a single mom raising two children in France and trying to make ends meet has to be incredibly hard. But at the end of the day I made what I thought was the best decision for the people who (at the time) paid my salary, TWA’s subscribers.

BTW, I don’t mind disagreements or critiques at all. You have to have a thick skin in this business. It’s just the way it goes. But misquotes or incorrect attributions, especially when it comes to someone else’s work (the winemaker’s in this case) help no one.

Free shipping on a case of 375’s from Jaffurs making it about $13.50/bottle delivered. Applies to their Santa Barbara County Syrah, Viognier and Late Harvest Viognier.