Village wines from VR are now easily priced like many excellent Premier Crus from other locations. M-G is now priced in the rarefied air where you start to think of it as a commodity instead of something you drink. For me Burgundy has largely become a game of “hunt for the next small (or large!) producer who has improved their viticulture and winemaking to exceed expectations”. If you are happy with getting wines that slot in the 90-92 point ratings and are not yet hyped by William Kelley, there are interesting bargains still to be had. High priced GCs are still an occasional splurge for me (like single bottles) but day to day drinking is now about the hunt. Clearly these village wines are way overpriced compared to lots of up and comers, but it just becomes another wine to leave for oligarchs and Hong Kong hedge fund managers. Sad but c’est la vie.
Anybody ever tried Michel Rebourgeon? Maybe the next Volnay is next door in Pommard.
At a recent event with William Kelley, he talked about seriously re-evaluating the quality of 2017. Thinks they were underrated initially and are wines that appeal to a more delicate, earlier maturing kind of palate. At least the recent releases are not priced in the stratosphere and will be ready within my lifetime. Personally I’d rather have a D’Angerville Ducs from 2017 at 1/2 the price of M-G village Vosne any day.
Of course on release the 2017 M-G Vosne wasn’t anywhere close to what is being asked now. I got mine for about $90 back then. Seems like a very long time ago.
These high-end villages wines have been going nuts. Look at retail pricing for Mugnier or Roumier Chambolle these days. ('19 Mugnier Chambolle for $500 WTF?!) Or Cathiard Vosne. Or Rousseau Gevrey. Etc etc. Thankfully some of my favorite villages–e.g., Fourrier, Bachelet–have remained comparatively reasonable.
The huge price increase in Mugneret Gibourg village really started with the 2018 and 2019 vintages. I bought a bunch of 16 and 17 for 125-150 in the last couple years and the 2018 was a bit more ~180-200 and I never even saw the 2019 vosne for sale. I only have a small amount of grand cru from 2019 which was at a pretty significant premium to 17-18. The grand cru are all ~1000 or so now at the cheapest. You may be able to find a few loose bottles of 17 Clos Vougeot for 800 if you’re lucky.
Am I right in thinking that Barolo, Barbaresco and the wines of the Piedmont in general are enjoying a boom because Burgundy prices are so crazy?? I hadn’t been there since 1979 when I joined some friends there four or five years ago and the whole place reminded of going to Burgundy back in the '70s. Now i can’t get enough of the stuff.
This could also account for the land rush in Oregon, where how many French companies have set up shop?? I cannot count them all!
There also seems to be a bit of schism in pricing that I’ve seen at the wholesale level. I’ve seen some small or even modest increases in price for 2019/2020 and that’s understandable, but there’s others where the price is almost doubled. And this is on some usually readily available wines, Bourgogne rouge, etc. It makes certain wines not buy-able if there are still unsold wines at retail still priced very well.
in crush’s defense, they occasionally have some decent sales with some underpriced gems. also, very nice staff and its near my office.
as for burgundy prices…i am late to the game (last 5 years) and already feel some of my favorites are getting out of reach for my wallet.
here’s a recent price wtf moment…2009 bottle of gevrey village from a well known producer i was buying at $69/bottle for the last year from a retailer. they recently raised the price to $250/bottle.