Picked up some 09 Maison Champy Mazis Chambertin for $74…?at first I thought score! Then on the way home thought…punk’d? I figured a good vintage, vineyard…don’t know the producer…did I pull a dud? What’s going on??
(I saw what Meadows thought)
haven’t had one worth buying (Champy) but gave up trying, so I can’t comment re the 09.
alan
Alan,
What didnt you like?
Tried it both at Champy in spring 2010 as a barrel sample and then from bottle this past April - I’d definitely say that you scored on this one. Tasted about 40 wines at Champy between 2008 and 2009s (I think their wines are getting better and better and the whole line-up was very enjoyable with some very nice standouts) and the 08 and 09 Mazis were among the best reds for me that they produce - I know that I bought the 08 and possibly the 09 but certainly for over $100 - at $74 per, I’d probably have bought a 6-pack. Tasting it from bottle this past April really confirmed that it is quite good (had a few hours of air). I didn’t take notes at the time but would have probably scored it around 93-94pts. I’d say it was a bit more approachable than the BH review suggests…
Looks like the pricing manager at K&L is smoking crack. They have a ton of Champys from both 2009 and 2010, and seem to have randomly decided to cut the price in half for this particular wine, which sold out immediately. The 2010 and various other 2009 GCs are still at double the price. This basically guarantees nobody is going to touch the rest until there’s another sale. And why should I, when I can get Faiveley whatever for $10 more?
And it’s not like they need the room… the way they reorg’d the Redwood City store they have tons of open space. Great shop, probably where I still spend the majority of my money, but sometimes they do odd things.
They did a similar blowout on the 2008 Chambolle, I think because the 2009 had come in. I bought a case at $20. It’s a good wine for that price but I wouldn’t call it a really strong Chambolle. One bottle seemed very tight so it may have more to show.
Maybe people are realizing the wines aren’t as good as the hype…
I thought the wines lumpen and ill-defined - certainly late 90s / early 00s…
Everything I tasted at the domaine since 06 I found to be excellent - they were even one of the rare domaines that aced 06 white - I’d have expected those Mazis to be a great score - I tasted 07 and 10 from barrel and would have bought both. Not tasted 08/09…
Bill…I agree. You wrote my thoughts better than me.Their wines are very reasonable in Quebec, Canada. I love his Bourgogne Chardonnay Signature Champy 2009 ( which I will buy more).
I tasted a wide range of 09s last year at Champy, and came away impressed, though a few prices were too rich for my blood at the high end. At $74, the Mazis is a steal. In the interest of disclosure, I should add that a good friend has an ongoing business relationship with the new ownership team.
Was there hype?
Most of my burgundy friends seldom bought Champy and Pierre Andre from SAQ in Montreal, P.Q.
Like Bill so wisely reported, things change lately. I adore their low-end wines… ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
They make very good Vosne Beauxmonts. For that price you can’t expect a producer like Rousseau. The wines are very old school in many ways. Structured and can be texturally what Clive likes to call “four-square”. They do get some very nice fruit however. (Don’t know if they buy made wine.) In the past they had some brett problems with several wines. Pretty hard to drink those bottles. Since then, I think this has been improved a great deal. I would bet on Bill’s analysis here. A Mazi at $74 is a steal. I don’t know anybody on the new winemaking team but they seem to be turning out pretty good drinkers it seems. I think you scored.
Oh god I remember Pierre Andre in a previous job. We had oceans of that shit pushed on us.
The first and last champy I bought was a 2001 beaumonts. It was interesting but it had enough brett that Ive never bought another wine from the producer. As of what vintage have they cleaned up their act?
See what Bill said in post no.8. Meadows said the same thing…
Tom…I do not wish to say anything more. Guess you undersstand as I have friends who are in importers.
Berry,
I can’t speak for anything pre-2005, but from 05 on I have never tasted anything bretty. There have been ongoing efforts to clean up and modernize Champy since the new group took over, and I think it has only been the past few years it has really begun to pay off.
Beyond what I think is awful packaging, I’ve not been impressed with the wines. They all kind of blended together. Not tried the 2009s.
Thanks for all the input. I was going to pick up just one, then chatted it up with Jeff to see why they were marked down from $135. He said they simply wanted to move them with the 2010’s in house, so I bought the rest (4 bottles).
Figured $74 wasn’t that much of a risk given the year and vineyard. Just didnt know the producer - glad to hear they are better now.
I’ll probably open one soon in the name of science.