$15 Burgundy Wine

I’ve been scouring the forums and am really a newbie to the world of collecting wine. I really like the Burgundy wine that I’ve tried and many of you have confirmed that its a great place to explore. I’m also poor putting my wife through college so need to find those diamonds in the rough :slight_smile: Where should I start in the world of Burgundy wine? I’d like to find some new releases as well as older vintages because I’d like to look into aging here eventually but right now I’m in research phase!

Thanks!
Michelle Monteith

I just want to wish you good luck and welcome to the club.

I just did a search on the JJ Buckley and K&L sites, two online merchants with large selection of better wines.
There were only a handful of basic Bourgogne Rouge listed on either site under $20, and most barely under.
Most at that price are claimed to be be at sale prices. No harm in trying them, but at that price you will get a basic minimum undistinguished dinner wine. No amount of aging will turn them into gems.
My advice is to find a mentor with more Burgundy in his cellar than he will ever drink himself. Such people do exist.

P Hickner

When you say Burgundy, I assume you mean red Burgundy (Pinot) and not white Burgundy (Chardonnay)…

IMO, you should probably start sampling Oregon Pinots. To the extent that one can stereotype an entire winemaking region (you can’t), Oregon Pinots are not Burgundy, but very generally speaking, stylistically closer to Burgundy than California, where the fruit gets riper. Oregon is also cheaper than Burgundy and drinks well earlier than Burgundy (again, huge generalizations).

You’re already teaching me a ton :slight_smile: I like the idea of explore the Oregon Pinots. It also sounds a little bit more approachable. Producer recommendations in that region? What vintages should I compare and contrast? I feel so new to all this that I’m sort of trying to figure out how to ask what I’m asking.

Oregon is where I go for entry level Pinot Noir. New Zealand can be a good source also.
If you can stand getting 100 e-mail notices in order to find one or two wines, you might watch the closeout and flash sale websites. A couple of years ago, $19.99 was the going price for $35-$46 Willamette Valley Pinots from the 2007 vintage. Excellent wines, they were, but not well accepted by critics. I expect to see a repeat with 2011, which is one of the most Burgundian vintages in memory, and severely under appreciated in the wine press.

P Hickner

Hi Michelle, and welcome to WB! It sounds like you’re just starting out with wine. I remember how overwhelming that seemed when I did it. So much to learn, and so hard to tell where to begin! I’d suggest going to as many wine tastings as you can, at stores or in an “offline” (where a private group gets together to share wines). That way you can taste many wines and get a better sense of what’s out there without spending a ton of money on things you don’t like. It’s also a lot of fun!

Michelle:

A few random thoughts/questions, take them for what they are worth:

How much Burgundy have you tried? How much wine have you tried in general? What is it that you like about the wines you have tried?

If you are not very sure of your (you + your wife) palates, taste as much wine as you can. If possible, try to keep notes on the wine’s name/year and what you did or didn’t like about it. Many wine stores have tastings on the weekend, often free. You might want to become a regular.

Speaking of wine stores, where are you located? If you’re in an area with a decent local wine shop, I’d suggest going in and finding someone who is knowledgeable (perhaps after tasting some wines) and explaining that you are learning about wine and you’d like him/her to build you a case/half-case of Oregon Pinots around a $15 price point. If you’re building a full case, you might expand to Pinots more generally (Burgundy, California, NZ, etc.). Note: some places offer a discount if you buy a full case.

About that knowledgeable sales person I just mentioned…if they don’t ask you questions (what do you like in a wine, will you be drinking it right away, etc.), I’d probably speak to someone else. Otherwise, you’re going to get a wine THEY like, rather than one YOU like.

Personally, I think $15 is a tough price point. I’d almost always rather have 3 - $20 wines than 4 - $15 wines. You may want to consider bumping up your average price per bottle or at least get a bottle or two that is a bit more expensive. Cheap does not necessarily equal value.

I’m going to give you a wine to seek out for this weekend, even before you answer any of the above questions. The Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir is widely available and can be found under $20. Year in/year out a very good value. Yes, it’s from California, but it’s atypical for the region and, IMO, delicious. If you find a bottle, please report back your impressions.

$15 is a tough price point for red Burgundy. I checked at K&L and it looks like their lowest priced red Burgundy is $17. It’s Domaine Bart Bourgogne which I’ve not had but I would gladly try at that price. Their $25 wines are really good.

The basic Bourgogne Pinot Noirs from Jadot and Drouhin can often be found for $15 or less, but I would rather buy up to something like the Bart or another domaine.

In whites K&L usually has some <$15 Macons that are quite good.

Hi Cody-

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post! We’re in Denver Colorado. My wife and I drink a bit of wine but more informally (finding $10 Pinot, Zinfandel, Malbec, Cabernet, red blends but we haven’t gotten more investigative then that). At thanksgiving a good friends dad, who is an avid collector, brought a couple wines from his cellar. One being a pinot (which is all I know about it) and it was amazing. I think for the first time I realized what good wine tasted like but also what its like to work with a wine that gets better with age. I love the idea of aging and really fussing over fine things :slight_smile: We’ve brewed beer and cider and I just get so much energy from getting a little obsessive. Since Thanksgiving, I’ve been a little hooked and I’m going to see if I can meet up with this wine collector and hopefully be mentored by him too!

I think my trouble in getting into the wine world right now is $$. We have a little baby on the way here in two months and like I said my wife is in school. But I also know that starting now will enable me to get some wine aging as well (I can store in a friends basement). I’ve even negotiated with my wife that we’ll buy the wine I want to age for my birthday :slight_smile: So maybe my task now is to go to tastings, hang out with this mentor and learn.

Is there a region or type of wine that would produce wines that are typically cheaper to buy but will also be good ones to age?

With Burgundy’s I’m really just picking something I like and was like I’ll start exploring here. But maybe I need to explore a different kind of wine that I also like. I love white wine too Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, dry whites.

Also, I’m going to take you up on that challenge and see about getting that wine for our holiday celebration!

Thanks for taking an interest y’all!!

My advice for you is not to buy wine to age. At least not yet.

This is not meant as a slight in any way, but it sounds like you’re still learning what you like. That’s ok, EVERYONE goes through that. Moreover, it is extremely likely that your tastes will change (for example, I used to like Cabernet but now drink 10x as much Pinot).

So if you’re not sure of what you like now and your tastes may change in the future, why spend money on laying down wine to age, especially when money is tight? You would be better served to explore as much as possible (go to tastings), within your financial constraints. Take notes, but understand if you’re drinking a $15 Burgundy, you’re not getting any sort of genuine understanding of what Burgundy can offer on the higher end, especially with age.

Finally, you might ask your wife for a book about wine for the holidays. Kevin Zraly’s Windows on the World Complete Wine Course would be a good place to start.

Michelle it sounds like you are where I was about 8 or so years ago. I fell off the deep end about 4 years ago.

The first memorable “really good wine” I had was a Burg that a friend brought to a nice dinner. I had the same inclination you’re having “I want to buy burgs” I quickly realized what others are telling you, $15 is REALLY tough for Pinot, especially Burgundy. Fortunately for me, I live in Oregon and decided I’d educate myself with Oregon’s wine first because it’s cheaper and easily accessible. Honestly the pinot grape itself demands a premium that’s difficult to get away from, even $15 is difficult to achieve in Oregon. There are “a few” but $20 will get you a LOT more. But at this point, if you’re really about exploring and can handle a few bad bottles, I say go for it. The only other alternative is to go for other grape varietals but that’s not as fun :slight_smile:

So here are my “under 20” Oregon wines. I know this category well because I love pinot and I don’t love bringing a nice $40 bottle to a party where it won’t even be noticed or appreciated so I bring the $20 ones.

J. Christopher makes a pinot called “JJ”. It’s HANDS DOWN one of my favorite pinots out there for the “QPR” Quality to Price ratio. It’s a solid 89-90 point wine for me.

Elk Cove “Serene” Pinot Noir $16 locally for me. Another outstanding wine for the price.

White Rose “Black Thorn” $18 locally. A top producer making an extremely affordable wine. this might be a little more difficult to get but it’s sold to restaurants all over so being in CO I think you can get it into Denver.

I personally wouldn’t worry about vintage in Oregon because I don’t think there is a “bad vintage” in Oregon in the last 15 years, just bad wine. 2013s are considered an average or poor vintage and wine is generally more delicate, higher acid, lower alcohol and not as fruit.

2014s and 2012s will be the other end of the spectrum where they have more fruit, more alcohol and less acid. Generally speaking 2012 and 2014 are “safer” vintages. Everyone was making nice wine in 2012 honestly and they’re more accessible to someone trying out wine in my opinion.

There are other wines that you’ll see in the $15 and while they’re not my favorite, they’re certainly drinkable:

Erath entry level pinot $15
Acrobat pinot $16
Willamette Valley Vineyards $16

Those are easier to get but not as fun in my opinion. Still worth trying just to see what you like.

GOOD LUCK!

Normally I wouldn’t recommend any of the Languedoc/ VDP d’Oc as a Burgundy substitute, because most of it is grown in really warm areas that end up making the wines too fruity. But I’ve come across a few that are grown on the edges of the region near Limoux that can be very Burgundian for a fair price. It also helps that the ones I’ve had were made by producers from Burgundy as well. Hard to say any particular producers that may be in your area, but if you have a wine store that is helpful and knows what they are talkimg about they may help you find something.

As everyone has said $15 burgundy is a bit tough to do, at least living here in the U.S. One suggestion for a white is the Fevre Champs Royaux. It can sometimes be found for as low as $16, though I don’t see any on Wine Searcher in CO. What you’ll find is that it tends to be easier to find more affordable whites that are enjoyable than reds (at least in my experience). Try some less expensive Sancerre (which is Sauvignon Blanc from Loire), those are often quite good and pretty affordable. Trimbach makes a basic “yellow label” Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Blanc that are quite good, and they can usually be found for $15 or less. Good luck!

A few good wine stores that are in or near Denver are Argonaut, Applejack, Primo Vino.

That’s funny Peter! I would actually bet that there are more Burgundy collectors in this camp, than Burgundy collectors with LESS in their cellar than they will ever drink themselves!

I am going to jump in here because I am new to burgundy as well. What are some of the better ones to try Up to $70 bucks. Ready to drink now, and what vintages?


Thanks for the help!

Michelle,

I have been drinking and studying wine for a little while now, and I still usually shy away from buying Burg reds. I think the “mentor” concept is a great idea!

If you can latch yourself to an experienced collector, go for it!

Oh, and get Karen McNeil’s “Wine Bible”!