I know of 2 Burgundy producers in 2019 who went crazy with there price increases.
Clos de Tart - 50%
Domaine des Lambrays - 100%
Am I missing anyone else? Since William Kelly said there’s going to be crazy price increases for 2020 it would be nice to know who already jacked up there prices and by how much. Thanks…
Wow, that’s crazy on Lambrays. It’s been going up the past few years already. I guess more and more of the2nd and 3rd tier high end wines will go this way.
I wonder if Lambrays is really still 2nd/3rd tier. I haven’t had the wines in a quite a while (and the ones I had in the aughts were not very impressive) but there have been quite a few changes and based on Jasper Morris’s evaluation of the last few vintages, it seems like this might be an address where LVMH has turned things around. But I’m speculating without trying the wine.
There are many producers that have gone logarithmic, but it’s often hard to tell whether the price increase is coming from the producer as opposed to someone else in the supply chain.
On the contrary, I think LVMH has been a pretty good steward of winemakers. Cheval Blanc and Yquem come to mind, and while I’m not a champagne drinker I take it that Krug and Dom Perignon are thought to perform at a high level. I’d also note that Lambrays is in fact their only burgundy. So if you haven’t tasted the recent vintages, it would be hard to form a basis that they aren’t producing good burgundy.
I would take his comments to be more that you don’t need to support the handbag empire. You can drink lovely Burgundy without them (even if wines they sell are delicious).
No, Lambrays has actually gotten good. The pricing used to be good because, as you note, it was a distinctly third tier wine. As William Kelley has posted, the joke was that by buying Lambrays you were getting a bottle of village burgundy for the price of a 1er cru that said grand cru on the label.
LVMH has put quite a bit of money into Lambrays, the increase in price is not random. Say what one will about LVMH, they are dedicated to making high quality products, even if they charge an arm and a leg for them.
I guess my real point is that I look for value in most things, not luxury.
VW may be owned by a luxury brand, but is not itself a luxury brand.
Lambrays may now be excellent, but it’s cost reflects that, and maybe more. It is a luxury brand, or at least well on its way. And that’s ok. Billionaires gotta drink, too.
But if I want a Morey grand cru, I would just prefer to spend $250 on 2019 Jouan Clos St Denis than $650+ on 2019 Lambrays.
But honestly, I’m not buying much grand cru anymore, because I think even $250 is a hell of a lot for a bottle of wine.