Ha! I’ve been waiting a long time to hear this kind of recommendation from one of you burgophiles! Never understood the obligatory burg “journey” thing. By the way, never had a burg and I’m not starting down that road now - just an observation - no bashing intended. Cheers!
Can you mention a few producers that you recommend that don’t have the issues you mentioned.
Ponsot is horribly inconsistent, even when Laurent was making the wines. It’s pretty much a blacklisted producer for me.
In the ponsot price spectrum, Dujac, Fourrier, Mugernet Gibourg; slightly higher price point Rousseau and Roumier (although there are some fakes here as well)
I personally like most of the negociants; jadot, faiveley, drouhin, Bouchard; they make the entire range from Bourgogne to grand cru and most of their GC are great values. It’d also give you an opportunity to experience the entire range.
They (Ponsot) are not heavily faked, but a certain, very old fake just happened to get a ton of publicity, leading to the conviction of Rudy K, the most prolific counterfeiter of our time.
Just saw an email for 16’ Rousseau CSJ @ $1,199.00 a piece. Makes Ponsot CdlR in good vintages like 10, 12, etc. look like solid values.
Anyhow, Joe if you like the wine stick to your guns, when the wine is on, it’s upper echelon for sure, but definitely diversify. @ $500/bottle you should get familiar with Dujac’s lineup: Bonne Mares, Clos St. Denis, Clos de la Roche, Malconsorts. Dujac did well in 12-14, and I hear good things about their 15’ but the prices have me passing.
Here’s my point of view: If you have, say, a $2400 budget for burgundy each year, then you [if you’re like me] would be vastly happier finding some GCs which you love, and buying 4 bottles of them, and opening them for, say, Thanksgiving & Christmas & Easter & the 4th of July, than you would be if you were to purchase 48 bottles of $50 Village wines, each of which is anywhere from mediocre to boring to horrible.
At the $50 price point, California & Oregon can deliver in spades [within the context of what they are].
And I certainly wouldn’t go slumming in Burgundy at that price point - it’s a complete waste of your money, your time, and all the brain cells which will be killed off with each hangover.
Be a disciplined alcoholic, and open some exceptionally nice bottles just a few times a year, rather than getting sloshed on vinegar every night.
Do you think the other Ponsot wines in the cru auction were authentic then?
Joe - Nathan is setting out a legitimate approach to life and wine purchases. But it’s not the only one. As you can see from the other posts here, many people find pleasure and value in $50 Burgundies, so don’t feel you have to go the GC-only route. At least not until you’ve tried other options.
Indeed, Nathan’s proposal would severely limit your exploratory options. Better to buy a bunch of $50 and $100 and $200 bottles – and dare I say $30 ones? – to get a sense of the different producers, styles, villages and levels. Before committing to a $600-only strategy, find out if you find enough marginal value in those wines to warrant the money.
Also a lot of the GC wouldn’t drink well this early on.
Michael, I think auction is riskier, older is riskier, and value @ $1,000+ is generally riskier, though not as important if you are buying g recent release from a trusted retailer/source. That’s true across the board in Burgundy.
All well worth noting, but not affecting the 2014 CdlR recent release Joe mentions. Plus how are you gonna fake those Ponsot corks ; ) You’d know before you start drilling.
Seriously? What quality-minded producer would do that?
The corks are medical grade plastic, or so I was told by the current winemaker.
On the other hand, is it any worse than a “quality-minded” producer sealing a bottle with a closure that has a 5% failure rate? At least they’re trying something.
I personally found it very instructive to taste from the top down in Burgundy. The “Burginess” of the lower level bottlings is not entirely obvious unless you’ve seen it in the amplified form of a Grand Cru or 12. I now very much enjoy wines at all levels and even indulge in trying new releases from time to time. For me, the magic of a mature Burgundy is where it’s at.
Cheers,
fred
My recommendation would be to try to go to Burgundy tastings. There’s a Burgundy tasting next week at K&L in both SF and Redwood City. They’ll pour wines at the Bourgogne, Village, 1er and sometimes GC level. I wouldn’t start buying stuff, especially GC, without trying some first.
http://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1348655
I personally would recommend tasting through villages level and up.
Let’s stop with these threads. Just start with this. This is what we all really want out of Burgundy if we are honest with ourselves.
Yup,
I agree 100%
You must not read any of his posts if you think he is a burgophile. He hates Burgundy and intrudes on every Burgundy thread just to say so. I have him on ignore because every post is exactly the same and he has become very tiresome.
I assume that you mean when you say heavily faked is that a number of fraudulent people make and try to sell fakes of the wines not that Ponsot commits any fraud or makes fake wines. Is that correct?
How much is that in electrons?