|
Ten
Commandments for Buying Burgundy
Or, How To Become a Burgundy Shark In Ten Easy Steps
(Note: this essay assumes a US audience)
By Lee
Short
1.
Know Your Own Palate
Burgundy
is not for everybody. 98-point scores, ecstatic wine board TNs,
and retailer hype do not translate to taste sensations. Good burgundy
is not a rich or heavy wine, and it is rarely an oaky one. Many
wine lovers demand a wine of rich fruit flavors. Steve Zinfanatic
is invariably disappointed by that $45 Volnay that the Burgundy
fans loved. Don't make Steve's mistake. Burgundy is not a bigger,
richer version of California Pinot Noir. If you want a big, rich
wine -- buy something else.
2.
Do Your Homework
Know
the producers.
Buying
a wine from a good producer is the single most important step
you can take. The great vignerons make good wine even in "off"
years. The sloppy ones can turn a fabulous vintage into porridge.
To
get your money's worth out of Burgundy, you must realize that
the great producers are not limited to the big names. You must
look beyond the marquee names like Leroy, Laurent, and Lafon.
There are plenty of great growers with lower profiles. To buy
a great bottle of Chambolle-Musigny premier cru, you don't have
to pay the 100$ that de Vogue's bottle costs. Seek out the producers
whose wine is priced below its quality level. Carpe QPR. QPR for
40$ bottles?? You bet. At these price levels, getting the most
for your money is more important than ever. If a 9$ Languedoc
is disappointing -- c'est la vie. If a pricey premier cru falls
short -- youch!!
Your
homework here is never finished -- you are shooting at a moving
target. Many factors can change a producer's quality of wine.
In 1993, the negociant Remoissenet Pere et Fils was purchased,
and the management team changed. The quality has never been the
same since (this is a good thing). The changing marketplace can
also effect a producer's QPR. The prices of D'Angerville Volnays
have skyrocketed in the last three years. They were amazing bargains;
they are now merely solid value. We see this everywhere, and burgundy
is no exception.
3.
Do Your Homework
Know
the vineyards.
Most
wines are priced according to the status of their appellation.
Grand crus cost more than premier crus, which cost more than village
wines. It's important to know which are the best premier crus
and which are the worst. Unfortunately, many wines that outperform
their status are priced accordingly. The famous premier crus of
Chambolle "Amoureuses", Gevrey "Clos St Jacques", and Vosne-Romanee
"Cros Parantoux" are all deserving of grand cru status. This is
no secret, and the wines are priced like grand crus. Fortunately,
there are a few gems like Nuits-St-Georges "Les St Georges" that
don't carry a higher price. But they disappear quickly from the
shelves. There's a flip side to this coin. Wines that don't live
up to their grand cru status still carry a grand cru price tag.
These are to be avoided. Many bottlings of Clos Vougeot and Echezeaux
fit into this category.
Similarly,
wines from outlying villages like St Aubin, Fixin, and even Savigny
are cheaper than wines from the heart of the cote like Gevrey
and Chambolle. Red wines from the Cote de Beaune are generally
cheaper than red wines from the Code de Nuits. Wines from Volnay
and Chambolle are, IME, usually of similar quality -- but the
Volnays are cheaper because they come from the Cote de Beaune.
Wines from Savigny-les-Beaune are generally of better quality
(IMHO) than wines from Beaune -- but they are cheaper, because
they are not from the heart of the cote.
4.
Do Your Homework
Know
the vintages.
In
the land of Saint Bobby and the Thousand Sheep, this can be boiled
down quite simply: know which vintages the press has underrated.
These wines will languish on the shelves, and will be significantly
discounted. The 1991 vintage is a prime example of this. There
aren't many 1991s left on the shelf -- but they are very cheap,
and are drinking well right now (if stored properly).
5.
Do Your Homework
Know
the prices.
So
you're dredging through the end-of-bins at the local Pinots 'R
Us, and you find a bottle of 1999 Beaune "Champs du Merde", Domaine
LeVache. The red tag reads $21.99. There are only three bottles
left. To buy, or not to buy? Is it really a good price, or not?
To
answer this question you need to know a number of things: the
quality of the vintage, vineyard, and producer. The vineyard sets
the price you'd expect to pay for such a wine. In today's market,
a Richebourg typically runs $150, a Clos Vougeot $60. You need
to have this "track record" in your mind. Then you make adjustments
for the vintage and the producer. A village Meursault typically
runs about 30$. But a village Meursault from Coche-Dury is rarely
found under 80$ -- and if it's a high-demand year, that Coche
will set you back at least 100$. Knowing this information will
give you an estimate of the wine's market value. Only you can
decide how much it's worth to you -- but knowing the market value
will tell you how much similar wines cost.
Keeping
up to date on prices requires a good memory and constant effort.
But it's the only way to take advantage of the real steals while
avoiding the "bargains" that every store has burgeoning on their
shelves. The true deals don't last long, and you've got to jump
on them right away.
6.
Find the Bargains
The
defining feature of the US burgundy market is its unpredictability.
Different
importers pay different prices to buy the wines, and have different
markups. Here in Minneapolis, we are lucky to have The Wine Company
as an importer. They import the white burgundies of Verget, among
other wines. Their markup is very reasonable, and the Verget wines
are cheaper here than in most other markets. On the other hand,
we pay 70$ for premier cru Nuits-St-Georges from Daniel Rion,
which are often available under 40$ in other markets.
Because
of this, there are fewer consistent, year-in-and-year-out values
in Burgundy than for other wine regions. Most burgundy bargains
are wines which are solid value at regular prices, and a lowball
price makes them real bargains. What was a deal last year may
not be a deal this year -- or it may not be available at all.
All
this has major implications for burgundy shopping. When fishing
for values, cast a wide net. The more stores you look at, the
more bargains you'll find. I live in a metropolitan area of 2.5
million, and I wouldn't dream of relying on local shops. I'm on
the mailing lists of at least 10 major retailers, and I frequent
a fistful more on the web. That's where I buy most of my burgundy.
There's
one other excellent source of Burgundy bargains -- buying at the
source. Wine stores in Burgundy are little cheaper than wine stores
here, but if you buy from the domaine you will get a significant
discount. Most US states allow you to bring wine back in your
luggage with only a minimal duty. And you can buy styrofoam wine
shippers at the village post offices in Burgundy. Just tape 'em
up and send 'em as checked baggage.
7.
Buy Reference Books, and Use Them
The
burgundy fan suffers from information overload. Hundreds of domaines,
hundreds of vineyards. And it all comes home to roost when you
get that flyer in the mail advertising the Thierry Mortet Gevrey-Chambertin
"Clos Prieur" 1993 for 22$. You've got to find out who Thierry
Mortet is, and if he makes good wine. You've also got to find
information on the "Clos Prieur" vineyard in Gevrey-Chambertin.
Is it a village wine, or a premier cru? Is it a vineyard of high
repute, or an undistinguished one? You've got to find this information
-- and you've got to find it before the wine sells out. You need
references ready at hand.
Fortunately,
there are a number of different resources available to the burgundy
nut. Obviously, there are a number of internet wine boards. Some
of these are very good burgundy resources. Just as obviously,
there are wine magazines and newsletters. Both the Wine Spectator
and Parker's newsletter are, IME, of dubious value for burgundy
(but I haven't read Parker since the advent of Rovani). I can
recommend Steven Tanzer's International Wine Cellar. I've
heard very good things about Clive Coates' The Vine.
In
addition, every burgundy fan's library should have more than one
book on burgundy. My first choice for this is clearly Clive Coates
Cote D'Or. The book is expensive -- but it is extremely
comprehensive, and Coates "gets" burgundy. It will save you money
in the long run. On the other end of the scale, I would stay away
from Robert Parker's book, because he clearly does not "get" burgundy.
In between the two extremes, I can put in positive recommendations
for the books by Matt Kramer, Anthony Hanson, and Remington Norman.
Kramer's Making Sense of Burgundy has the best writing
and has comprehensive lists of the vineyard owners. It is written
from an American perspective, so Kramer understands the US burgundy
market. Remington Norman's The Great Domaines of Burgundy
restricts its coverage to a number of the top domaines. However,
it has very good profiles of those domaines, and one priceless
piece of information: what vineyards the domaine owns, and the
age of the vines in each vineyard. Anthony Hanson's (The Wines
of Burgundy, IIRC) book is the poor man's Coates. More comprehensive
than either Kramer or Norman, but without the specialized information
that each of them have. It is generally more dry reading than
either Kramer or Norman, but has the occasional bit of wry humor
(see his description of Pousse D'Or, for example).
8.
Try Before You Buy (When Possible)
Power
65-wine tastings don't count. To get a good idea of where a wine
is going, you must give it time. Watch its evolution over a day
or more. Try it with food and without.
9.
Live in a Reciprocal State
Or
find a friend who does, or rent a mailbox, or ...
This
is essential, because cherrypicking from stores across the nation
is the only way to drink burgundy without breaking the bank. Maybe
in San Francisco or New York, you can survive without this --
but California and New York are reciprocal states anyway.
10.
Have Fun
This
is supposed to be fun, dammit! If you enjoy reading about wine,
shopping for wine, and talking about wine -- this will be fun.
Chances are, if you're reading this, then you're a Wine Geek (tm).
Wine Geeks (tm) like this kind of stuff.
But
if you don't like doing your wine homework, this will not be fun.
Copyright
© Lee Short, October, 1999
|
