1st ex cellar Envoyer disappointment 1979 Pierre Bouree GC 1er Cru Les Cazetiers

WINE TALK
1

I have absolutely loved every wine Greg has offered up from ex-domaine stuff as they’ve all been drinking marvelously and have incredible QPR. When he sent out an email earlier this year for this wine at $119 I figured I get a few and try them. He’s offered up some 79’s privately from random producers in Geverey and they’ve all been excellent so I was expecting nothing less.

When I first pulled the bottles, I saw that there was a good 1-2cm of cork protruding past the capsule. Didn’t think it was a big deal as both bottles had a depressed cork and I thought that was just the way they placed their corks. Once I opened the capsule I noticed that both bottles corks were drenched almost to the top with wine. Considering they were ex-domaine I was relatively surprised as I thought these were recent releases. Then once it was poured, it was obvious this wine had seen much better days.

So if you have some of these (I see a few people have purchased it on CT) let me know if that one bottle was a fluke or not.

  • 1979 Pierre Bouree Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru (11/23/2011)
    ex domaine, tasting really tired. Heavy soy sauce and iron on the palate, still has some acidity but the fruit is almost completely gone. Had an okmedicinal nose with wood scrapings and red berries, but this bottle has seen much better days. Very disappointed at this offering especially at the price, first big disappointment from Envoyer in regards to their ex domaine stuff.

Also all the bottles I have have a depressed drenched cork. Really surprising considering it’s ex domaine…

Posted from CellarTracker

2

did you tell greg?

3

Yeah just about to email him. Just giving people a heads up. His other wines have been great for ex-domaine! So this isn’t a critique on Greg, just on the bottle itself.

4

Interesting. Bowden and crew opened a bottle of this (i assume from Envoyer) a few nights ago at a get together I missed.
Saw a pic of their bottle, but with the holidays and stuff never talked to them on how it showed.
Going to shoot an email to see thoughts.
I have also had nothing but good experiences with Envoyer ex- stuff.

5

30+ year old wine is a crapshoot no matter what the source.
I’m not sure that it being ex-cellars could or would have made any difference
if the cork placed in the bottle 30+ years ago was at fault?

I’m not sure why you are kind of calling out the rare & fine wine dealer on this?
I can’t think of any R&F dealers with any sort of money back guarantee.

6

Honestly I didn’t feel like he was calling him out. I read it as more “Envoyer has such a good track record that I was suprised one didnt turn out”. So really a compliment.

Thats said, I would not ask for or expect a refund. 30 year old wine will indeed be a crap shoot.

7

subject title has retailer name and the word disappointment next to it… To me, that is “calling them out” I just do not see this as a positive

To me, a 30 year-old wine that fails to deliver due to a bad cork is just not retailer related…
I’d take the retailer out of the subject title.

8

I think the keyword here is “1st”. I think that was the point of the thread, but charlie can explain when he sees this.

That said, I agree it isnt really a retailer issue when it comes to aged wine.

9

Having “grown up” on these wines from the 1960s circa 1971 I was never impressed. Old? Yes. Funky? Yes. Worth it? No.

10

I am surprised no one has started an “Envoyer Thread” similar to a"Garagiste Thread" as it seems like a lot of Berserkers shop these guys.

I myself have had nothing but positive results with them. A couple of duds, but that is to be expected with the amount of wine I go through! Good product, great customer service and they are in my hood.

11

Indeed - that was my reaction when I saw the offer. I’ve drunk several Bouree wines from the 1970-1990 era and have never been impressed.

12

I’d be happy to take that 1989 Palmer off your hands if you were one of the 2 people to beat me to it recently…

Opened a 1990 Palmer from Envoyer for Thanksgiving. Cork was stained almost to the top. But after the funk blew off, it was consistent with online tasting notes.

I agree that Envoyer is a great source with great product…too good actually…

13

Typical Mel, misunderstanding my posts, did I make fun of AAPL again? Fortunately this time it’s not a blatant personal attack with no basis (btw, thanks for ignoring my PM asking to clear up the issue). Didn’t listen to your misguided advice on me getting married or having kids then and certainly not listening to your advice now. On the otherhand, happy you unblocked me flirtysmile

I love Envoyer, I spend tons of money with them and I’ve referred people who have spent tons of money with them. In fact I just got a receipt for this weeks’ grand cru white burgundy extravaganza… yummmmm Boilloit Grand Cru. As Berry very well put out of the hundreds and hundreds of bottles I’ve bought from Envoyer this is the first disappointment. How can I not be disappointed with the email says this

Lucky because it is a rare event to receive an ex-cellar offer, particularly from this great older vintage, sourced straight from the domaine…This is a wine that can age, particularly from a vintage that we absolutely love for Red Burgundy in 1979. These wines come with perfect provenance, straight from the source. To repeat our usual mantra, finding older ex-cellar Burgundy is our favorite type of event and is so crucial to these older bottles.

How does one not express disappointment? The wine was dead, it’s not going to age anymore and I’ve had MANY MANY 1979 bottles without the cork condition this had, depressed and soaked through? Does that sound like “perfect provenance”? Maureen knows, Bouree wines are nowhere near the $120 price tag that was asked for this wine, I and I’m sure a few others purchased it because of it being ex-domaine with the belief that it was stored well for the years it was in the cellar. Obviously it wasn’t. I am 100% not saying Envoyer cheated anyone, I’m just disappointed in the condition of the wine and it doesn’t match what was offered.

Who wouldn’t be disappointed in a situation like this?

14

I think this needs to be very clear, if this was a “cellar” buy from one of his “cellar” blasts, then I don’t really care to complain as you take crapshoots on where wine has been and typically his prices reflect that. This is about wines from ex-domaine that should have great provenance but do not. This is a $50 wine that sold for $120 based on cellar direct provenance.

My reasoning for this posting as I said before is a PSA. I want to know if other people have had the problem, or it was just my bottle. If it’s the former, Greg should go to that importer/domaine and tell them to refund his money cause they were not honest with him. All I know is both my bottles have depressed corks.

15

I don’t think there is anything wrong with the title of the post. Charlie simply wanted to state the fact that he was surprised a retailer with a fantastic track record had an off bottle. . . there is nothing wrong with that. If you read the original post, he states, “He’s offered up some 79’s privately from random producers in Geverey and they’ve all been excellent so I was expecting nothing less.” Key words: “All been excellent”. So, how can that be viewed negatively?

Besides that, I’ve never had an issue with Envoyer products and will continue to buy through Greg.

16

For what it’s worth I get the gist of your post and didn’t see it as Envoyer bashing…just trying to take that 1989 Palmer off your hands… [wink.gif]

17

P. Bouree is one of my favorites. And I loved all the 1979’s except

the CDR drank many dozens but that was 25+ years ago. All my

corks were in normal.

18

Too bad about your bottle. FWIW, I didn’t read the OP as a missive against Envoyer but more of a PSA on this batch. Fu and I know Greg well. Provenance means everything to Greg. All of my dealings with Greg have been stellar with customer service beyond reproach.

19

Charlie,
Obviously you know nothing about what old wines should taste like. Therefore you should send them all to me so I can teach you. Oh, and next time just put some Coke in it and it will taste fine neener [rofl.gif]

As for the other thing, I don’t see it as an attack on Envoyer at all.*

(*I’ve only bought from them once and so far been pleased with their service).

20

I wouldn’t pay much for old Bouree wines but I do like them very much. They all have more old barrel than fruit but that is not always bad. It doesn’t sound like you got an atypical 79.