There was a different type of value proposition when I was ‘peak buying.’ Following my tasting of Nicky’s 2002s in Nuits St.Georges (with his business manager Xavier) I ordered (from memory) 12 Aloxe Boutières, 6 Vosne 1er Suchots, 6 Vosne 1er Malconsorts, 6 Vosne 1er Petits Monts, 6 Vosne 1er Gaudichots and 6 Chambertin. Due to a mix-up there wasn’t any Suchots waiting for me when I came to collect, and the stock had all been sold – c’est la vie – but I still ended up having to pay more as my Petits Monts all wore Malconsorts corks(!) – so I ordered another 6 – i.e. the proper Petits Monts! The result still seemed expensive at ~1,500 Euros (before the extra PMs) but the bottles have brought me so much pleasure – and it goes without saying, such an order would be massively more expensive today…

This may be the last of my Boutières, and it’s been super-interesting to follow this wine through the age-curve; starting deliciously, lushly fruity, then the wine narrowing as it approached 10 years old, finely acidic but hardly with the foil of lush fruit any more. Today it’s much more drinkable than 5-6 years ago:

2002 Nicolas Potel, Aloxe-Corton Boutières
The nose is a little compact, almost suggesting, but never quite delivering a little brett. The palate is a dream – the fat of youth is long-since lost, but here is a fineness of acidity and a clarity of fine red fruit that I can only describe as succulent – oh that’s so good! The texture has some depth of concentration and clearly there’s acidity here, but anyone who appreciates 1996s and 2008s will find this a very easy wine to drink. Simply a great buy – I’ll be sad if I never find another stashed, hidden away, in the cellar.
Rebuy – Yes

David Croix is one of the few that I can think of who makes this cuvée today – stupidly I’ve never bought any – still I’ve plenty of his Beaunes, waiting for the right day!