Kobrand has put up the trade resources for 2012 Comtes (see below), so I figured it would be a good time to get a thread started. Based on the harvest note, looks like it should be a great Champagne and I noticed they were able to dial back the dosage a bit compared to '08 and '11. With '08 Comtes trading well over $200 in the States (and even higher in the UK) and '12 DP around $200, I am resigned to believe that '12 Comtes will be priced over $200. My understanding is there is still a lot of '11 out there, but I don’t think that will affect the price of '12 as that is like comparing apples to bad oranges.
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If they price like Bordeaux expect $300 so they can clear out the back vintages by making them look reasonably priced.
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There was so much hang-wringing over the choice to use the '08 vintage to step-function increase the price, but the reality is that this remains an incredibly high quality Champagne and still a good value. It would not be surprising to see them continue to step up the price with '12 especially given the smaller production than other Têtes.
I went deep on '08, and can’t wait to try the '12. I view the '11 as that strange mid-career concept album from your favorite band - just ignore it.
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Hopefully they price it more like '12 DP than resort to a Bordeaux strategy! Back before the '08 was released, Taittinger had publicly stated that there will not be an '11 CdC, so I don’t know if they consider '11 revenue as gravy on top or if they really needed this to sell through at close to $200. If it is the former, then they may not need to take the riskier strategy of trying to price '12 high to flush the '11 out of the system. The popularity of Comtes really jumped with the '08 vintage. Prior to '08, Comtes was easy to get and priced below DP. Now it is the opposite.
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The 2011 was a hard pass for me. Terrible vintage and funky taste. I am looking forward to the 2012 but I hope they do not price it significantly above the 2011s in order to flush them 2011s out.
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The price of '08 Comtes was a big step up from prior releases but much less than what it trades for now. Given that '08 is a great vintage in general, lots of people say the best since '96, I was not turned away by the price increase as I think it was justified. I always considered Comtes to be underpriced, so I felt this was going to happened sooner or later. The higher price for '11 did not work as planned and I think it will find its way to a lot of airport lounges and first class cabins. It will be interesting to see where '12 is priced. While the dollar is stronger, quality, quantity and popularity would point a higher price. Btw, I see that WHWC has '11 Comtes priced at $160 now. I know I will pass and save my money for the '12.
Edit: I went back and checked the release prices in the UK and it looks like '07/'08/'11 were 450/535/535 GBP/6. So '11 was actually flat to '08 in the UK, but I believe it was roughly $30 more in the US, $170 vs $200. GBP was also stronger when '11 was released, roughly 1.38 vs 1.29 for '08 release. But here is where it gets interesting - '08 is now trading for around 1170 and '11 is around 600 in the UK.
I don’t have a lot of experience with Comtes, so I took a flyer on a few bottles of the '11 given how much this board raved over other vintages, despite knowing '11 was (being kind) a suboptimal vintage. Do you have a sense for whether that funky taste will blow off over time?
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Bill - I don’t, but I did not get funk and just felt it was a bit thin and uninspiring for a young Comtes. The last time I had a Comtes on release that I did not like was 2000 (I skipped '05) and I tasted burnt and metallic flavors. I think Crush was selling it sub $100 in those days. Other folks I talked to who had it then were not fans either. However, if you look at the CT notes now, people are loving it. The '11 may evolve into to a good drinking Comtes one day, but I would suggest sitting on yours until you see some consistent CT notes saying it has turned the corner and is drinking well.
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Sorry about your luck.
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You win some, you lose some. I’m currently trying to rationalize it as deploying idle cash that is rapidly declining in value. Not having much success convincing myself of that though.
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A few bottles is hardly a disaster. Drink them when it doesn’t matter, when you aren’t looking to impress anyone, including yourself, and you’ll probably enjoy them.
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One possible outcome… you crack open a bottle, find out you like it, and clean up in a few years when the wines are grey-marketed in for $100.
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Got an offer for ‘12 at $280 and passed.
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I’m not even 40 but I already feel like an old-timer. I miss the days of ‘06 for $99. Or ‘07 for $89. Lesser vintages of course—but still…
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Remember when Comtes was the best value in Champagne? I remember.
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Not surprised. When Jon mentioned his $200 cutoff point, my first thought was pure fantasy. We’re going to see a $300 baseline.
You can’t get any top house Champers for under that these days. Hell, I just got a '02 Salon mag offer at $3k. What is the Champers world coming to? Hopefully a reckoning soon where prices crash and I can swoop in to save the day with cases and cases at '18 prices. At least I already have cases and cases at '18 prices.
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You mean comtes rose was the best value in the early '00s
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Please don’t listen to snide garbage like this; you’ll still be drinking one of the best Champagnes in the world and learning while doing so.
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Yeah no longer. I think Krug GC is probably the best value in big house prestige cuvée champagne at this point.
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At $220+?