First hat in the ring, Corton.
I’ll go Corton.
Sadly, Corton
unanimous so far
Why is Corton most likely to improve its reputation? Has there been a big change in Corton? Alternatively, is this simply a situation where many feel that Corton has nowhere to go but “up,” with respect to other communes?
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Brand. DRC’s investment.
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Terroir enhanced by global warming and deep pockets can make great wines here every year.
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Increased focus on burgundy means the “non vosnes” get a look in.
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Lowest priced Grand Cru’s in burgundy.
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Bloody good wines (forgive aussie vernacular).
Seriously I think the best Corton producers are already “up” making it the smart money burg buy.
Pommard
because ?
It’s good to see that Steve and Anthony agree on where to stand to have their avatar pictures taken. That’s settled.
Corton.
Partly because Pommard’s reputation has been so poor to begin with – rugged, coarse, rustic, harsh, foursquare, “sturdy”, etc. That is beginning to change, but perceptions seem to be still lagging the reality as reflected by what the better producers are now doing.
I don’t personally obsess about Grand Cru vs. 1er Cru designations, but some people do… so if we’re talking “reputation” in a broader sense as opposed to just with Burgundy cognoscenti, potentially having Rugiens and Epenots upgraded would help elevate the prestige of the commune (similar situation with Les St. Georges in Nuits).
I think Corton also has significant reputational upside potential, as does Nuits.
-Steve
Corton is hampered, though, by the fact that the wines are fairly impenetrable for 20 years, making difficult the assessment by many tasters of improvement.
alan
Morey Saint Denis
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Name a village with more Grands Crus that is less well known
Name a village with a similar amount of GC where village, premier cru or Grands Crus are as cheap
Name a village where wines of comparable quality are cheaper?
Not that there are valid answers to these thoughts, but I’d be curious to hear about them.
I’m biased in that we source from two PCs in Morey. But, my points are still valid
Ray, I agree. For all of these reasons though, I already hold MSD in high esteem. Beautiful, pure fruit. I don’t get priced out of the better vintages (usually). With the rise of Lambrays, their Clos is getting (as we say here in Milwaukee) “spendy.”
Corton has this kind of poor step child reputation, but DRC buying in should be a rising tide for all ships. DRC buying in seems to be a sign to everyone that they think this land and these wines are worth having. I thought they were before. As Alan says though, they take a while…
I agree with Steve’s dark horse analysis for Pommard too.
CORTON is not a Commune (Village), it´s an Appellation (Grand Cru) for red and white wines.
The communes are Aloxe-Corton, Pernand-Vergelesses and Ladoix-Serigny.
BTW: I vote for Morey-St-Denis.
Fixin is nowadays a rather poor relation and it’s too early to tell whether the efforts of Philippe Charlopin and Benigne Joliet will revive the reputation of the Clos De La Perriere, once considered the equal of Chambertin and Clos de Beze, but certainly there’s vastly more interest in the wines than one would imagine both at 1er and village level, though sometimes it seems to me that some prestigious growers from outside the village who make Fixin don’t do it all that successfully.
That was going to be my vote. I think the large increases in overall Burgundy pricing over the past few years will allow more investment in some of the “lesser” communes, like Pommard and Volnay, which could easily result in some marked improvements. Pommard in particular has some nice variation in terrain and exposure that might be exploited to advantage with the potential for returns that justify the investment.
I vote for MSD. High level of winemaking andtop quality vineyards. They just don’t seem to get enough respect.
St. Emilion. Come on, they have FOUR first growths now. Soon maybe they’ll have ten. Nowhere to go but up!
Can we get a poll going?
Part of it comes to the size of the planted area. Controversial, but I think the blends of the vineyards at the 1er Cru level (as is done in other villages, notably Chambolle-Musigny) keeps visibility of the vineyards a bit lower than they would otherwise be. I’d enjoy the chance to find a wine from a single Premier Cru parcel from older vintages, but this is a different story
Also, having been sold as Chambolle and Gevrey for so long (this has been said quite a lot, but I cannot actually find note of this in my library)might have done something with decreasing overall visibility.
On that note, it is often said that Clos de la Roche was sold as Chambertin. But, for quite some time it has been considered great. So, I cannot understand why it would be sold as anything else sucessfully.