A 4-year vertical of 70s Inglenook charbono?!?!?
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so I’m curious. Thread title indicated huge Bern’s price increases yet many are still finding deals. What’s the summary? Are there still great prices on some old Burgundies?
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They are there but not on the list.
Not on burgs. The good mature wines have been drunk up for quite a while now.
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I am assuming that the cost of replacement for their older wines in great condition far exceeds the cost on the list.
I am not sure if they are buying heavily, at the same rate or whittling down the list, but whichever one it is will be a factor in how much the wines cost.
I got a feeling last time that some of the joy of having such a great list has gone, as there are so many people coming in the hope of pillaging the great wines at bargain prices. Far better to put yourself in the hands of the somm. In my case, I did ask for no Beaujolais or Barbera. Did not stop him bringing a thirty year old Beaujolais, and giving me a glass on the house. It was actually no bad.
I think we are spoiled. The steaks are adequate, but if you buy Flannery or like, or go to a great steak house, they are at best B/B+
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Can’t take my wife to a steakhouse now after buying Flannery the past few years. She’d rather have the Flannery every time.
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Fyi - so much has changed at Berns. New ownership (not sure of the exact details), Eric Renaud has left, new Chef and on and on. I went down earlier this year for Eric’s last night. I insisted on him pouring me his last glass on his last night. So many great times over the years. I will go back but it will never be the same without Eric.
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What’s Eric up to now?
Enjoying his nights off and working for an importer.
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That’s very cool. Eric was always great to us as I’m sure he was to all.
Trying a bunch of these is almost as exciting for me as having a couple of “great” old wines. I am sure the DRC crowd disagrees, but some of us were not drinking/buying wine when those were accessible to wine nerds of modest means.
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On a recent visit right after the remodeling closure, I was a bit disappointed that those pages of Cotes du Rhone Villages wines from 77-81 were no longer $25-40 but now mid-$30s and up - haha still a deal but I somehow won’t have the same thief feeling at the new prices. We repeat drank the 78 Revol Crozes for $150, where it was $75 last time I had it. It was still excellent and well worth the new price.
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I have a copy of the Bern’s Wine Book from 1983. After visiting multiple times in 2019 and 2020, I went back to check older pricing and many of the wine prices had hardly moved in 35 years.
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Rekondo (San Sebastian, Spain)? Schwarzer Adler (Vogtsburg, Germany)? Fondly remember a 1996 Roumier Bonnes Mares for EUR 240 at the latter.
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As a regular at both I would say Tour d’ Argent has a better list than Berns.
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Far and away the best wine list in the world is one that lets you BYO. I know I will always find a wine I like, and at the right price.
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I’m still amazed at what’s left after all these years.
But to be fair you would have had to add what was in Bern’s cellar but not on the list. A lot of the best wines I’ve drunk there never made it to the list.
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Because still today there’s thousands of cases in the cellar nobody has looked at in decades.
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Where did the cash flow come from decades ago to acquire so many wines? Usually restaurants operate on pretty thin margins I believe.