I know there are a lot of great bottles out there but for retail its dead.
I was in Binnys today and its $55 for a regular appellation Bourgogne from an average house, the entire Burg section was maybe 15 bottles, Bdx was maybe 200+ and Napa was 300+ there are just no burg wines for people to buy.
Even if you want to buy Burg its not there at Binnys, you have to seek it out
Much as I enjoy Alan being smacked around, and it should be done regularly and twice on Christmas Day, there is some truth in what he says at least for Burgundy. The Bordeaux and Napa stuff is of course nonsense.
But if you look around, Bourgogne from good producers can be found for less. How about a delicious Fourrier for $45 or a Barthod for around the same. Or a mineral laden Monthelie for less. New store, but one of the specialists was an old friend and I bought a lot of great inexpensive Burgundies for everyday drinking.
Or great Auxey-Duresses from Gilles Lafouge, Rully from Dureuil-Janthial, Mercurey from François Raquillet, Marsannay from Charles Audoin, red Maranges from Bachelet-Monnot, white Pernand from Rapet, Saint-Romain from Alain Gras, etc etc
But certainly, even lower appellations from the more reputed producers from the Côte d’Or have gone crazy.
Alan has a knack for at creating thread titles that will irk people and get responses. Some stores are strong in some areas, and others in different regions. Probably depends on a lot of things like the area demographics, owner’s preferences, etc. There is a store near me where the Burgundy section has been steadily growing for years, and is pretty impressive. I was recently turned on to Monthelie, mentioned by Mark above, there. Lots of affordable and interesting wines are available if you want to look for them.
this is a problem of availability, not livelihood methinks. that can be a problem in convincing the broader public to live burgs though. Total wine is similar. I can walk into my Total and buy most of the top Bordeaux I want, most top Napa I want, a lot of good Oregon, a pretty good selection of Spanish wine… and this is similar for other stores around town. However, if I want a solid burg, including Bourgognes, I gotta get it online. not exactly the best way to get your everyday wine drinker to appreciate Burgundy.
then again considering a good entry level burg is already the most expensive of those I listed… maybe thats a good thing!
Matt, no doubt Total Wine has the best Bordeaux selection around me, but I could walk into other stores and come out thinking something foolish like “Bordeaux is dead at retail.”
Gary, what is easy to sell? (Real question). My guess would be varietal labeled wines, with lots of fruit, soft or no tannin, and a touch of residual sugar, but I am not ITB and that is a total guess.