Five years ago, I started my gf (burg virgin) with Fourrier Gevrey VV. “Oh, that’s acidic!” she remarked, finding it excessive, but not so much so that we didn’t finish the bottle. She agreed to keep trying other burgs. Six months later I re-served the Fourrier which she found terrific. Now she almost always chooses burgs.
Three lessons from this:
Fourrier, baby
Give it time to learn. Burgundy isn’t California. Your palate must adapt.
If you begin to value freshness and finesse over fruit and power, you might need to sell some wines.
That’s a pity, Michael. I think that it depends on which salesman you deal with chez Martin; I always dealt with PJ, who was an awesome dude. He has since moved on, not caring for the environment in such a large structure.
As to the rec, that’s exactly the kind of underwhelming, prestige priced experience that one should avoid with newbies. There is a burgundian experience in EVERY bottle of burgundy. The newbie needs more data, lots of it, to begin to form their own impression of what burgundy is about. Without direct personal sensory experience, it’s all a bunch of vague “i’ve read things” projection, dart throwing blind. Lookout.
In as much as people seek to understand what “pinnacle experience” burgundy is all about, one cannot overlook that the “peak” has a broad essential base upon which all else is built.
Dive in.
Yep, Fourrier is sexy.
Yep, try some mature examples as Alan suggests…
Lost of good ideas here. The Fourrier GCVV is the bomb, but also questionable value-wise. Oh wait, we’re talking Burgundy, nevermind.
Let me add an inexpensive pair that may be readily available, particularly the Drouhin:
2009/10 Régis Bouvier En Montre Cul Bourgogne, darker fruit, more structure, very “Gevrey” imported by Kermit Lynch $20-25
2010 Drouhin Cote de Beaune, (not CdB-Villages) bright, fresh red cherry fruit, seamless balanced fruit/tannin/acidity, very “not Gevrey” $30-35
Hovering around the $100 mark, and sometimes below, I find the various Chevillon Nuits-St.-George’s crus to be excellent and a value in today’s inflated Burgundy marketplace. Although I have always sought out the Cailles, Vaucrains, and Les St. George’s which can be a little over $100 though sometimes a bit under, the other crus can often be found significantly under $100. To be able to find premier crus that are not in short supply and that represent the pinnacle of quality in a particular commune at those prices in today’s market is a rarity.
Unbelievably true for me. OK, well I have kept my old Bordeaux and Barolo gems, and I’m addicted to Riesling and Chenin Blanc… but still the old cellar went through wholesale changes.
Lots of good advice on the board, but I’ll throw in my two cents. I started drinking Burgundy regularly this year, so I’m pretty much in the same boat.
Have a retailer you trust put together a six-pack of varied burgs that should be drinking well now. It’s a good way to explore a few regions and figure out where to go next.
There are a ton of excellent producers who make relatively cheap wines in Savigny-les-Beaunes and Pernand-Vergelesses. Bize, Pavelot, Rapet, Guillemot, Chandon de Briailles… If you want to investigate an area deeply, it’s a pretty good place to be.
Eric- are you close to Woodlands Hills- whwc.com ? Nice burg selection and some great folks who can help steer you in the right direction.
I’m 2 years in and this year Burgundy will represent my largest region in terms of investment.
Guillemot Savigny is an excellent choice and I’d add Dublere Volnay Pitures. Both should be attractive style and price wise.
I’d also highly recommend Faiveley prem cru from 09 and 10. These are just terrific wines and they have a large portfolio that will let you explore most of the major regions.
Eric, I would buy different Burgundy from across the gamut, in terms of critical acclaim, popularity on WB and CT, vintage, recommendations from retailers, etc. You spend your hard earned dollars on a range of wines and you’ll quickly figure out which ones you like. It might be the cheapest and most expensive lesson you will ever learn. Like others say, don’t get discouraged if you don’t like some early bottles.
Michael, I agree with your number 1… Hopefully, said retailer has enough choices.
Wow. Just got home and can’t believe the number of responses. Really appreciate the feedback and will take all the advice to begin my journey down the “Burgundy Brick Road”. Stay Tuned…
You’ve gotten plenty of good feedback and great suggestions. My suggestion would be to line up several producers of various styles and communes as has been suggested above, and get a few friends together (hopefully to help foot the bill). 2010 may be a good choice although there are rumors of starting to shut down. Open them all at once so you get a chance to compare and contrast, and can more easily decide what style you find to your liking.
The other thing to realize is many true burg lovers don’t even touch their wines for 10-15 years or longer, as this is when magic really starts to happen (there may be some disagreement here), so trying a few wines with age if you can at all pull this off, would be very instructive. The best thing is to have friends who are burg collectors, but if this isn’t possible, buy a couple. I just shipped in several 93’s in my fall shipments, and this is a very good burg year. 2001’s and 2002’s frequently pop up, and occasionally 98’s, or even 96’s. Envoyer not infrequently finds older ex-cellar wines, although you have to be a little selective.
No, plenty of good Burgundy for less than $100 as long as you are not looking for trophies, the most sought after producers, and Grand Crus. This assessment is overly pessimistic. Yes, the prices for the “collectible” stuff is through the roof, but there is plenty to enjoy besides that.
I respectfully disagree, Nathan.
Your criteria seem to be more about:
B)whether or not the wine makes you gag
C)whether or not the wine makes you sick
A)whether or not the wine has value
If you need to get above $100 for that, we are experiencing two very different burgundian universes.
And for the record: I am NOT saying that Burgundy is bad wine.
In fact, by and large, Burgundy produces the greatest still [not bubbly] wines in the world.
But the good stuff has long since been priced many orders of magnitude beyond the grasp of the common man.
Even at $100 to $150, you are struggling to find good Burgundy these days.
Burgundy is now the province of fiat-electron mongering Banksters and Chicom Princelings and Persian Gulf potentates on vacation with their harems in Andalusia.
Don’t kid yourself.
You waste your money [and your precious hangovers] on crap Burgundy at your own peril.
