I have been dealing with a micro-negociant via a broker in Beaune for 3 or 4 years. Yesterday I was informed that payment for the 2011 allocation would have to be made to the winemaker immediately. Wine delivery to USA is expected end of 2013 or early 2014. I have been purchasing from this maker and paying when the broker receives the wine in Beaune, typically in Sept or October 2 years after the vintage. Today, I dont know if the wines are even in the bottle!

Not sure what is behind this change of rules. Has anybody else observed similar changes in commercial terms?

Joachim -- Without going back and checking my notes, my recollection is pretty much across the board for the Nuits producers I visit -- Chevillon, Gouges, Chauvenet, Confuron, Faiveley, l'Arlot, as well as producers outside Nuits with Nuits holdings, e.g., Drouhin, Jadot, Mugneret-Gibourg, Méo-Camuzet, Rouget, Confuron-Cotétidot, Grivot, Clavelier, Arnoux-Lachaux, etc., etc.

Bear in mind, though, that this is a double-edged sword -- 2006 was especially good in Nuits (and Savigny!), but 2005, while very good in Nuits, was perhaps less strong there than in other villages, an observation that I think other reviewers also shared.

Haha, might be the case, Bill. But this was much later anyway, when 2006 and 2005 were both sold out. It was the inverview which was posted here recently, where Jean Marc explained his interpretation of the 2004 taint.

Claude, do you have any special producers in mind? I have not enough tasting experience to make a competent comparison here, but I heard from many sides that 2006 came out very well in NStG - I reacted by stocking some more 2006 Chevillon, without tasting it so far.

And in a few cases, notably at Nuits, those producers may well have been right.

Probably just depends when the interview was Joachim - remember most of the producers preferred 2006 once they'd sold out of 2005s ;-)

I agree! So far, I had really good experiences with 2006. To me, its a real round, warm vintage, but still keeping typicity. Someone could say "easy to drink", but not with the flatness of 2007, which has not too much depth imo. Heard an interview with Jean -Mar Fourrier, and he prefers 2006 to 2005. Might be changing in time, but still an interesting viewpoint.

Grabbed a 2006 Domaine Georges Mugneret Nuits 1er Les Chaignots out of the cellar this evening (meant to take a 2005, which probably would have been a bigger mistake...). Good, but better in 2+ years, methinks. Quite red-fruited, with noted acidity (both excellent); fleshes out with some time over the evening. Hits some high notes but always beckons with a promise of greater potential. We have 3 left, fortunately, and those will await a substantially later date.

I'm a fan of the '06s on the overall -- have enjoyed a wide range from, say, Barthod BR to Rousseau Clos St. Jacques. As advertised, they generally show their typicity of place quite well. There have been a few misses along the way as well, so I'm generally cautious about what/when to open, but by and large its a vintage I quite like.......

Thanks for the link, emile. It reflects accurately the situation that I have observed at the estate over more than twenty years of visiting (BTW, when I visited last fall, I spotted at a distance Charles Rousseau, who turns 90 this year. The late Denis Mortet, a relative of Rousseau's, once told me that Charles arrived each day before everyone else at the estate and left each evening after everyone else and even spent time labelling the bottles himself.)

However, what is curious about the link, and other sources I've checked on the net back it up, is the assertion that Chambertin was acquired in 1920 (there are various parcels in the estate now, but I assume that the reference indicates that this was the first parcel to be acquired). So how was there a 1915 Armand Rousseau Chambertin? Did Armand Rousseau, also a grocer, buy a barrel from someone else and stick his name on the bottles (i.e., a negociant wine)? Interesting questions to pose on my next visit.

Claude,
This is fantastic information especially when the Domaine was founded in 1910:

http://www.webflakes.com/wine/bon-vivant/eric-rousseau-man-says-no

I'm just reading today in André Simon's Winewise that he drank a 1915 Armand Rousseau Chambertin in Paris in January 1938! So much for the story that Raymond Baudoin of La Revue du Vin worked with Rousseau to begin domaine bottling in 1929.

Thanks Bill, I wanted to post much more detailed notes, since this tasting was really interesting, but it seems just can’t find the time. To add something in short: We had a Michel Gros Clos de Reas vertical tasting as third flight, the vintages 1998, 2001 and 2002. The same picture here: While the 2001 and 2002 were really open and ready to drink (even if they were still in their youth, I might add) the 1998 was very wild and edgy. There also seems to be a change in the winemaking at Michel Grios after 1998 (anyone has more information about it?) but apart form that, surely 1998 is a stubborn fellow.

Joachim said:
Afterwards we had three 1998 Grand Cru (Girardin Chambertin Clos de Beze, Grivot Clos Vougeot, Sirigue Grand Echezeaux) which were much more close and tihgt. Okay, its 98 and Grand Crus, but still I was a bit surprised.

Great info Joachim - thanks!

Regis Bouvier MSD En La Rue De Vergy 2006 drank well enough this week, although plenty of time left to evolve.

Don't worry Victor, almost all of the flooding took place outside the winegrowing areas. Some lowlying vineyards were submerged in up to 30 cm water, but no harm done.

I had the following 2006 Village wines in a tasting two weeks ago:

Herestzyn Gevrey Cahmbertin VV
Roty Gevrey Chambertin Champs Chenys VV
Mugnier Nuit St. Geroges Clos de Fourches
Michel Gros Nuit St. Georges

All the wines were very open, generous and open for bussiness, the Roty clearly standing out as primus inter pares. Afterwards we had three 1998 Grand Cru (Girardin Chambertin Clos de Beze, Grivot Clos Vougeot, Sirigue Grand Echezeaux) which were much more close and tihgt. Okay, its 98 and Grand Crus, but still I was a bit surprised.

Jacob
Thanks for the information on Fougeray. Interesting to know that they have some older vintages in stock; would be nice to stock up on some drinking now 2007s for example. I've only tried the red and white Marsannay's and have always been impressed with both of these particularly the white.
Mark

Mark,
Fougeray is a domain we visit regularly, Patrice Ollivier is a very nice chap speaking English – our visit is scheduled for next Wednesday. By chance we just opened a bottle of Marsannay Saint Jacques rouge 2004 which is very enjoyable. Matured (barnyard) but still having ripe fruit in aroma an on the pallet - very juicy and not with the typical 2004 “greenish” taste. They still do have some older vintages and so far we didn’t find a better Marsannay Rosé. Also the whites and reds are good, Fixin Clos Marion monopole is excellent in both colours. The Bonnes Mares Grand Cru we have bought in magnums in the vintages of birth of our grandsons.
Jacob

Some excellent bottles I've had recently:
N Potel - CM Charmes
F Esmonin - GC Lavaux St Jacques
Both were drinking nicely

Jacob
Sounds like a great trip. I would be very interested in any reports/notes/thoughts on your visits to Fougeray de Beauclair and David Duband as these are two places that I would like to visit in the future.
Thanks
Mark

Saturday we're going for another journey to the Côte, just the two of us, staying in “Gite la Cabotte” from Thibault Liger - Belair and family in the small village of Messanges (Hautes Côtes de Nuits). We have scheduled our trip in advance, visiting known addresses but also four new ones. Although it looks a very busy trip, there will be lots of time to take some great walks especially in the Hautes Côtes and spend some time relaxing in the beautiful garden.

Appointments are made with: Rollin Père & Fils, Pierre Thibert, Lucien Jacob, David Duband, Cyrot - Buthiau, Henri Latour & Fils, Florent Garaudet, Francois Charles & Fils, Parigot Père & Fils, Maurice & Anne-Marie Chapuis, Machard de Gramont, Fougeray de Beauclair, Marc Gauffroy, JanotsBos and Chevillon - Chezeaux.

Hopefully I will have some time left to do some reporting on the tastings we will have like I did last autumn...

For what it's worth, a bottle of 2006 Jerome Chezeaux Vosne Suchots that I had about a year ago is what started my Burgundy infatuation to begin with. It was certainly young, but fully open and generous.

What's the extend of the damage? I read some cellars are underwater... does that mean that barrels have been damaged and stock has been lost? How about the vines themselves?

Haha! You might be right. Anyway, I thought his ideas how the different cultures in Burgundy and Bordeaux influenced the wine style and the markets were pretty interesting.

Drinking a 2011 Jadot Chardonnay "Steel" w/silver label. First time I've seen this. 17.99 in Hawaii. Just opened. Lemon/lime aromas, clean attack, juicy acidity, a little bland but an ok drink. At a better price point a rebuy.

Thanks, Joachim. I did read it, but I thought it told me much more about M. Pitte than about what I was looking for.

Did you read "Jean-Robert Pitte: Bordeaux/Burgundy - A vintage rivalry" already? I think he gives some answers.

Direct from the horse's mouth (okay Charles Rousseau!):

Charles was keen to extend the domaine’s trade outside their small number of private clients. To that end in 1951 he found himself in London’s Victoria Station, two suitcases by his side. He first visited that very rare thing; an existing ‘foreign’ client (a director of the BBC), and then set about visiting as many companies as possible who might have an interest in his wines – mainly by looking through their windows to see if they already sold wine! It was tough; his targets were happy, if rather bemused, to entertain Charles in their offices, but anyway they already bought their wine from Drouhin or Patriarche! The top-level négociants in this age were Drouhin, Faiveley, Bouchard Père and Thomas-Bassot, Jadot was not yet regarded in the top-rank. Unlike the domaine, the names of those London merchants have pretty much disappeared; Ward & Martinez, André Simon, Christopher & Co., Dolomore, JH & J Brooke, Bonne Portes and the Soho Wine Co. With a smile, and the hint of a wink, Charles says – ‘you know, over the next 10 years or so, one-by-one they all appeared in my office, asking to buy the wines’. Charles still retains this social history in the letters of thanks that he received following his visits, some are signed by Lords – others are even in French!

Galvanised by his first foreign sales-trip, Charles continued to pack his two suitcases to help sell the domaine’s wines. This long-time committment to export shows in the domaine’s sales to this day; 90% of the wines are exported from France.

I’ve been doing some reading on the state of the Burgundy market in the twentieth century (so far I’ve been reading English sources, but I have a stack in French that I am about to attack). My impressions, especially for the UK, are below and I would appreciate whatever commentary anyone can provide to correct or confirm what I have gleaned:

In the UK, it was very difficult to get decent (much less good) and genuine Burgundy for most of the twentieth century. Partly, it appears, that this may have been connected to the classes that drank wine and the need for their suppliers to have large quantities of a given wine available – for social events of significant size and/or so that there would be enough to go around for everyone who “must” have it? Well into the second half of the twentieth century, the commentators seem oblivious to the shipper, concentrating solely on the vineyard name. I believe that Rousseau, one of the pioneers of estate bottling, didn’t begin selling in the UK until the beginning of the 1950s.

I gather that there was a very small number of true Burgundy aficionados in the UK and that they were able to purchase some genuine wines through sources such as André Simon and perhaps a few select specialist retailers who were willing to deal in small lots of individual wines (if so, can anyone provide some names and any estimates of how extensive these operations were)? Stephen Gwynn in his 1934 “Burgundy” lists 30 Burgundy and Beaujolais shippers with offices in the UK – some with their own offices, some with agents. Most of the names that one would expect to find are there – e.g., Faiveley, Latour, the various Bouchards, Calvet, F. Chauvenet, Chanson, Champy, etc. Three names stand out as missing: Jadot, Drouhin, and Remoissenet. Jadot, I believe, was much smaller then and (?) concentrating on the French market. Drouhin is a surprise as it distributed Romanée-Conti at this time, I believe. Remoissenet perhaps because it sold wines to establishments that then put their own labels on them?

Some English sources mention that Belgium and the Netherlands were better markets for Burgundy, and I suppose the prestige that bottles (supposedly) from Vandermeulen attain at auction today in part confirms that. Yet, when I began my interest in wine in the late 1970s, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany had reputations as markets with strong preferences for the worst of the adulterated wines. Anyone have anything by way of explanation/correction?

Frederick Wildman and Frank Schonamaker in the US went around identifying top estates in Burgundy and sold them in the US after Prohibition ended. Was there no UK equivalent until the late 1970s/early 1980s?

Much of the real Burgundy for the first two-thirds of the twentieth century appears to have been consumed in Burgundy itself. Did Paris or any other parts of France get the real stuff, too?

Many thanks for whatever anyone can provide.

That's interesting as from Lamarche I got twice the reply they are closed on weekends...

Anyway, enjoy your trip and I look forward to reading your impressions.

Thank you everyone for the great tips.
After my last post, a few other producers responded to my request so now I have 2 more visits on Saturday as well. They are Jean-Jacques Confuron and Francois Lamarche. As you can tell, I will be spending a lot of time in Vosne Romanee.

We are getting ready for our journey tonight and I am just excited.

Will report back after my trip =)

If you plan something in the first week of July, I'm in!

Still not sure if I'll get an audience in Beaune Roelof, but if so, 1st half of July seems most plausible. My UK plan was delayed by getting involved with the IMW - who have not responded since January - maybe a mistake that! ;-)

Hi Brian welcome here
when I take some new people with me to Beaune I always make an appointment
by Bouchard Aine 'The Tour of the 5 Senses'
http://www.bouchard-aine.fr/en/visites/
Most of the time we are eating at the Caveau des Arches. Nice cellar and the prices are normal even for the wine, but the food is excellent.
I never was on the Bouchard Tour and we don't go to this big houses in Beaune
We always go Friday-Sunday and don't have any problems on saturday to get an appointment for tasting. We only go to small producers and fill our cars and therefore I can't help you in the distribution point.
Have a nice trip

Hi Brian,

and welcome to this forum from me too. As you see this is not sooo active ;-)
I have suggestions for only two of your questions:
- I think three tastings in one day is fine;
- for the last dinner I would suggest le jardin des remparts. I had dinner there a year ago and liked it a lot. It is a somewhat more formal setting, but I just checked and they have a children's menu, so I guess they welcome them...

Enjoy the trip and report back, especially if you decide to do the Bouchard tour (which I have been considering doing since a while).

Dear Brian, welcome to this forum! As i am a new member here too and i have only been to Burgundy twice, you should probably expect and rely on the older members replies.
Here is what i have to suggest, trying to answer your questions one by one:
1. Three tastings in a day isn't too much, especially regarding the 3 hours break between them. Have in mind that most of the domains deal with tourists like us on an every day basis and they have a strict schedule, so you will have at least 1,5 "clean" hour between the appointments (usually more). Some villages are pretty nice and could offer a nice walk during that dead time.
2.I've never actually took the tour, but i've read the program and been inside the building, it sure looks very tempting and they also can definitely ship wines to USA (they even had some pre-filled formes as examples for shipping to USA and Canada).
3.I don't really know, i once saw a toddler with his French-American parents in a domain in Gevrey, but there wasn't any wine tasting taking place at that moment.
4.Definitely try "Caves Madelaine", it's on the Madelaine's square, but you have to make a reservation 2 or 3 days in advance.
5.Most of the people working at the domains speak English. The tourists office in Beaune has all it's documents in English too. I sure went to some which spoke only French, like Trapet (Gevrey) and Vaudoisey (Volnay), but you can always let the wine speak for itself!
6.Usually every domain handles it's own shipments, the bigger the domain the easiest you do your business (like Bouchard).

Above all, enjoy your trip to the "holy grounds"!Taste as much as you can, try to memorise all the tastes and aromas!