While you are trying $50-60 Burgundy, add a few good $50-60 Oregon pinot noirs into the mix, like Evesham Wood Puits Sec and Temperance Hill, and Goodfellow Whistling Ridge and Temperance Hill.
3 Likes
Many if not most Burgundy producers produce a range of wines from Bourgogne Rouge to Grand Cru burgundies and the prices can vary from below your $50-60 range to a $1000 or more for wines from the same producer. The cheaper wines will be simpler than the more expensive ones, but can be quite delicious.
Second, the heart of Burgundy is the Cote D’Or, where there are a lot of really expensive wines. But, just south of this is the Côte Chalonnaise where prices, in general are much less expensive and most are in your price range. Even in the Cote D’Or, there are excellent wines at good prices from villages like Santenay, Savigny-les Beaune and Pernand Vergelesses.
Producers from the Chalonnaise that I like that are well priced include Faiveley and Juillot.
Producers from the villages I named in the less expensive Burgundy villages can include Pavelot and Chandon de Briailles.
Producers in more expensive areas whose least expensive wines would be around your price range include Rossignol-Trapet, Hudelot-Noellat, Nicolas Rossignol, Drouhin, Yvon Clerget and Bouchard (look for their Beaune du Chateau)
3 Likes
As others have said and I said above, you can find reasonably priced Burgundies that are delicious, no problem. However, there is a trap you can get into that many of us (including me) have found.
Someone once said to me that I should never have tasted a wine that costs more than $5. He said I would have liked the wine and been satisfied because I would not have known that there was anything better out there. But, once I tried the more expensive wines I was in trouble as it is harder to go back. [I do realize that I was told this many years ago when it was still possible to buy really good wines for $5 a bottle.]
Same with Burgundy. You are going to taste a Bourgogne Rouge by say Hudelot-Noellat or Rossignol-Trapet and it will be around this price range or less and you will really like it. Fine and dandy. Until you say, I wonder what their Chambolle-Musigny (in the case of HN) or their Gervey Chambertin (in the case of RT) tastes like. Then you will want to try a premier cru and eventually some grand crus. And, that is when you start really spending money.
As Alan Weinberg said, enjoy the journey. But be careful. The journey today can end up getting much more expensive than when Alan and I were in our peak buying years.
3 Likes
Thanks. But that’s the case with any wine region. Few years ago I stared buying BDX between $10 and $20, almost exclusively Cru Bourgeois. It tasted good to me and I still think there are some good values there. But then after some time I tasted Grand Cru / Grand Cru Classe for $40-$60 per bottle and realized how much I was missing. I have tried couple of second growths for about $200 but to be honest did not find them much better than some of best Grand Cru Classe or second labels from the same producers. I might not have that sophisticated palate but I feel that the higher you go in price the quality difference becomes much less noticeable.
I will try to provide feedback on this thread as I go. I think it’s important for people to see that their advice is helping - at least for me it is.
1 Like
Good call. And for my palate Santenay as well.
1 Like
Great list!
1 Like
Have thought about this one a few times a while there’s truth in it, at the same time I have to say that if I remained in that lower price bracket I would also never have truly appreciated wine, and probably still be more in to beer than wine. For my wallet it wouldn’t have been such a bad thing.
1 Like
true, true. We should point him to the Burgundy thread that complains about prices. This:
https://www.wineberserkers.com/t/i-know-it-s-not-the-market-but-damn-burgundy-pricing/
Pierre Guillemot makes lovely wines. Les Serpentières is a solid $60 1er cru that drinks really well with 5 years of bottle age. Better than plenty of $100 Bourgognes from the Côte de Nuits at least 
2 Likes
Had a '19 Drouhin Gevery-Chambertin village last night that was gorgeous, was able to steal a few for like $45/bottle. Big fan of Drouhin’s village level wines (had an '18 Volnay recently I was also impressed with). If you find good deals you maybe be able to find them sub $60.
3 Likes
Hi!
It hasn’t been long since I started the journey but I think most negociant’s village-level wines provide great value and also a great representations of the terroir. Louis Jadot and Joseph Drouhin. Jadot more concentrated and Drouhin more light but both true to the characteristics of different vineyard sites.
Not a village-level but I greatly enjoyed a 2019 Bourgogne from Hudelot-Noellat recently.
I think the real fun is, at least for me, as you explore the different terroirs, recognizing the differences in the vintages in the same terroir and the question of if a producer is true to the vintage or not is very exciting.
What Burgundy did your friend serve?
1 Like
Cannot recall and the bottle has been thrown away. I am pretty sure it was 1er cru. I will try your Bourgogne recommendation.
1 Like