Burgundy Black Hole

WINE TALK
21

Indeed , why not 2006 ? There are many delicious wines around .

22

Prices are so out of sync for the newer vintages, it makes sense to buy older wines from excellent, secondary producers. Jadot, for instance, is widely available, and you can buy wines from all of the vintages mentioned for less than current cost. You can even buy 1999s for around the same price.

23

Here’s my strategy: buy every year upon release, both ‘little’ and ‘big’ wines. drink them in their appropriate windows. be a very happy man.

24

Mark, that is good advice. As I’ve been looking into back filling, the issue is trying to stick to producer mantra. For a lot of pre-2006 stuff, for my coveted producers, the prices aren’t even just astronomical, the wines are just not available. I may have to look at some wines from the larger houses.

Robert, that’s pretty much what I do too. I have a quite a bit from most years, even 2005. I don’t regret not buying much 2003 or 2004 (I started off as a vintage buyer and that actually hasn’t been too bad for me in retrospect). The confluence of this string of vintages has blown a hole in my plans though because I too like to let them age. I think I might have to back up the truck on the vintages I love to hedge against this kind of thing in the future. I’m already thinking about it for 2006-2010 because the early reports on 2011and 2012 are concerning.

25

I’m drinking a lot of my 2005 bourgogne right now. Most are in a wonderful place and are producing more than I ever expected from a bourgogne. The best of the bunch has been the Dugat Py (regular cuvee rather than the Halinard) with Bachelet not far behind. I even bought more of the Dugat Py recently. Perhaps they will improve but they are really the perfect wine to keep me going while premier cru and grands crus from other vintages mature. The only 05 bourgogne that I won’t open over the next year is likely Coche Dury’s blanc. I’m pulling from storage this weekend my 05 bourgogne’s from Anne Gros, Lafarge and Confuron Cotetidot.
A

26

Buy lots of bourgogne from 2009…

27

Crap-a-lot? Who names these vineyards? No wonder people think that Burgundy has a barnyardy aroma?

28

I feel that the importance and usefulness of Bourgogne and Villages level bottles gets lost in our frenzy to get the ‘best’. They can play just the type of role that you seem to be lacking, Scott. But many folks don’t buy that way.
Definitely backing up the truck for particular wines in particular vintages is a sound strategy; things like Bertheau villages are just wonderful, all the time…

29

Robert…Scott just joint the dark-side. He will learn… [highfive.gif]

30

I’d honestly vote that you start looking around for some Oregon wines with some age on them. They’re affordable, enjoyable, and some are a great wine for almost nothing in the secondary market. I picked up a 1990 Elk Cove Reserve last year for $25 that was better than some Grand Cru’s I’ve had from Corton and it was much more expressive and exciting than a '96 Jadot Chambertin Clos de Beze I had about 3 months ago. I’ve really been enjoying Oregon Pinot’s for the past 6-7 years and as much as I love Burgundy they’re my “affordable” wines. Check out wines with some age from St. Innocent, Beaux Freres, Patricia Green, Elk Cove, and Domaine Drouhin. You may be really happy for the $30-$45 price tag. If you like the funk in your wines I’d try to find a '96 Beaux Freres, or a '99 Ken Wright McCrone as well…solid wines that I think outperform their prices on the secondary market. Also check out Chatueau Musar if you haven’t tried that yet…see if you can get a '95, '98 or '99 (I think '01 or '02 is current vintage). Good luck with balancing the cellar

31

Robert, you may have me pegged. I have about 200 bottles of red Burgundy. Roughly 60% is 1er (mostly Cote de Nuits) and 40% Grand Cru. I own about case of Villages level wine. I have zero Borgogne. I suppose I have figured I can always pick the lower end stuff as a gap filler on this problem. I actually have more Bordeaux and farther back, so I don’t run into this problem (easier to find, more production, more consistency, they can blend the grapes…it’s a whole different thread).

My average Burgundy bottle cost is “reasonably” high (if my wife knew, she’d shyte, she’s pregnant and pretty touchy anyway - best cellar defender I’ve found by the way is her pregnancy [wow.gif] ). I hear there is a lot of good wine from the lower classifications. Maybe I can bottom fill with some newer vintages.

And every time I revisit US pinot noir, my wife wonders why I covet the Burgundy. She definitely prefers the California profile. I’d like to explore some there too. I’ve heard good things about Rhys, Anthill Farms, Patricia Green (Oregon, I know), etc. Whenever I do, I’m shocked at how affordable they seem. I really like them too.

As for back filling Burgundy, I have been exploring some more 2002 purchases from the big houses and there is still some good stuff out there.