I have been fairly lucky, although there are a number of houses I have had some poor bottles, so would not buy again, and some when tasted side by side with the chateau were preferred.
My questions are two fold. Can you talk about your experiences, especially if you have drunk them side by side. The other question is what kind of discount would you expect from a top negociant versus a chateau bottling of the same.
I know we will run into definitional problems as to which are the top houses, but letās try anyway.
Mark, my most significant ācompetitiveā tasting experiences have been at La Paulee. Sadly didnāt get to go this year.
At La Paulee one is highly constrained by only being able to taste 4 wines from each producer, so you donāt usually get to compare specific vineyards. But certainly one gets to try many Gevrey or Chambolle 1ers that give you a feel for producersā skill and style.
I would say the most consistent large negoc. producer is Joseph Drouhin, by far. I would love to taste their entire range one day, or at least a good fraction of it. But over multiple years I would say their (red) 1ers are at least as good as many othersā, and their GCs are very consistent as well. Some of their smaller production negotiant GCs are excepted as Iāve never tasted the (vast) number of them. The house style is pretty clear as well (a bit less extracted and more balanced overall, with still great variation). E.g. the Clos des Mouches and the Chambolle 1er are standouts that are priced nicely compared to others of similar or lesser quality. I have less of a feel for the whites. My overall impression is very positive, but prices are a bit higher (relative to their reds).
Faiveley has really come along in the last decade, though a more burly, oaked style than others. Their Cazetiers and Mazis are very good relative to others and priced lower. Their Mercurey collection is a bargain for the quality and extremely available.
Jadot Iāve found to be extremely mixed or disappointing. Iāve liked the CSJ (especially the '15) and would love to do a direct comparison of that with other versions. But other bottlings have left me wanting more. Their Beaune offering (2017 1er aux Cras) was crushed by Drouhinās '17 CdM, though likely much cheaper. My (weakly documented in my notes) feeling is that their Domaine wines are decent but many negoc wines are lacking.
Bouchard is probably the least impressive of the bigger negociants. Iāve generally found their wines to be lesser representatives of their respective appellations. They are relatively inexpensive though.
Bichot - havenāt had enough of these, but Iām curious.
Dujac, Meo Camuzet, Hudelot-Noellat - I havenāt tried many from these top producers who have built negociant lines. When Iāve done head to heads (e.g. with Dujacās domain vs. negoc Chambolle or Morey) Iāve preferred the domain wines but thought all were of good quality. Others will have more experienced opinions.
Bordeaux was bottled by a lot of different merchants from different countries. Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark etc. I think it stopped with changes in the early seventies, but could not find an exact date.
If itās Bordeaux, maybe take a look at Clive Coates book āGrand Vinsā published circa 1995. In the tasting notes section, for select older wines Coates has notations on which bottlings he has tasted, with some comparisons. For example, for the 47 Canon he comments on the chateau bottling and one from a B.B. Lestapis; for the 61 Leoville Barton there are notes on the estates own versus one from Justerini & Brooks. In the latter pairing the negociant bottling is described as āGood colour, less gamey than the chateau bottlingā but there doesnāt seem to be market valuation commentary (at least with respect to this nuance).
Not sure when the practice of bottling off premises stopped; the last one I bought in a sort of regular way was a 1970 (Vandermeulen) Magdelaine, maybe 20-25 years ago. I hardly ever see these oddballs, but Iām not looking to assemble rare verticals either.