DOMAINE LEFLAIVE 2017 & 2018 – Puligny-Montrachet
Mâcon-Verzé 2017 & 2018 75cl 33.00 (Swiss francs*)
Mâcon-Verzé Les Chênes 2017 & 2018 75cl 38.00
Mâcon-Verzé Le Monté 2017 & 2018 75cl 38.00
Pouilly-Fuissé 2018 75cl 49.00
Rully 1er Cru Leflaive & Associés 2017 & 2018 75cl 49.00
Bourgogne 2018 75cl 49.00
Puligny-Montrachet 1er Clavoillon 2018 75cl 139.00
Chassagne-Montrachet 1er La Maltroie 2018 75cl 145.00
Image, right, ex-Domaine Leflaive

Many of the usual suspects are missing from this offer but it’s also the first time I’ve seen an offer for this Chassagne – it wasn’t in the slection of wines tasted at the domaine in October.

A project that has been over three years in gestation. And the seed for this new approach all began with the ‘tractor-driver war!‘

No, not really a war! But a few years back, due to a lack of communication/transparency, tractor-drivers (in particular it seemed) had the ability to get a job at a good domaine, work there for several months then move to another domaine for a higher salary offer – then move again and again every six months. It was not so much the escalation of salaries that stung people into action, as much as the clear indication that for all the jobs at domaines and their suppliers, there had to be an easier way to find people for open positions.

A 2019 survey of 500 Domaines and 50 Maisons de négoce (carried out jointly by the CAVB and the FNEB) revealed nearly 700 open positions for wine sales-people, for maintenance employees, tractor operators, administrative employees, packaging operators, vineyard employees etcetera. It should be pointed out that Burgundy comprises more than 4,500 Domaines, 400 Maisons and 17 cooperative cellars – so the actual figure for open positions was certainly much, much higher.

With nearly €1 million Euros of investment, you can already get more than a flavour of it from the 1st September, that’s the new website launch-date to put potential employers and employees together.

www.vitabourgogne.com

*”The website is a platform that brings together information on the vine and wine sector in Burgundy, to put candidates and professionals in touch with each other:

“For candidates: this is a website for information on the various specialisations, training courses and partner training organisations in the sector. There are many videos, job descriptions and other information available. Additionally, there are the contacts for training organizations, admission conditions, funding possibilities as well as the procedures to be followed. VITA Bourgogne is also the site to find all the job offers in the sector in Burgundy and apply online in a few clicks.

“For professionals: the website streamlines the recruitment of future employees, particularly offering consulting advice and information on hiring, work-study programs etcetera.

“This website will be supplemented with an increased presence on social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and LinkedIn with the aim to grow the VITA Bourgogne community. As soon as sanitary conditions allow, the entire VITA Bourgogne team will be present at events in the Bourgogne Franche-Comté Region i.e. career forums, student fairs, career days, etcetera.

“Vita Bourgogne warmly thanks the Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne for its support from the very beginning of this great program.”

*My translation and summary of the Press-Release.

Or at least the version of that producer who was part of the Henriot group.

I had known for a few years, since the time of the previous Bouchard CEO, that for the right price, Château Poncié in Fleurie was ‘available.’ It seems that at the end of June a deal was signed – it just became public at the end of this week:

Lyon entrepreneur Jean-Loup Rogé has just acquired the Château de Poncié, formerly Villa Ponciago. The largest Domaine of Fleurie* thus leaves the group of the Henriot family.

*40 hectares

The new team announces that it is fully committed to the objective of organic certification for the entire vineyard by 2022 – so not much change from the time when Joseph Bouchard was running things locally. On the cellar side, Jean-Loup Rogé and Marion Fessy – yes previously of Henry Fessy who will take on responsibility for the domaine – also intend to continue the work started during the Henriot era. “The wines are well vinified, straight, with good acidity, and show respect for the terroir. It’s a spirit that we like.”

[EDIT] I hear that, at least, initially, Joseph Bouchard will be helping the new team get to grips with their new acquisition.

What with this and the (still available?) Château Ravatys – that would be a great combination for the ambitious 😉

I guess probably not!

It’s kind of ironic that the pdf for this sale is too large for me to upload to this site – rather like the size of many of the bottles that it features.

Rudy Kurniawan may be getting an early release from his 10-year prison sentence, this month, but Sotheby’s seem to be keeping their wine-ship straight with decently involved checking of provenance behind all their sales. That said, I’d want to have a lot more information about those pristine (almost new looking – right) 1942 DRCs…

We can complain about the pricing bubble of today – what else would we have to talk about if not(?!) But, from a certain perspective, great wine has never been easier to source. What do I mean by that?:

For a long time in Burgundy, those with access to the best took what they could and ‘that was that!‘ – the wines overwhelmingly disappeared, presumably largely drunk as their makers intended. It’s a different world now; many of those with access to the best see the wines more as investment vehicles than as something to consume – less the enthusiasts, more the collectors – why else so many jeroboams and larger? – Oops! Said the man with ‘too many’ magnums in his cellar 🙂

But what did I mean by a certain perspective? Well, of-course I mean money – the resources to buy these wines. There’s no getting away from the financial aspect of this, but if money is a trivial discussion point for you, you have never had it so good in terms of the opportunities to buy great burgundy. Sales like this are now every year, perhaps 2-3 times per year, and they offer wines that you couldn’t dream of acquiring 20 years ago – by practically any route!

It’s a great new world for the players – times have never been so egalitarian for the millionaires…

I never did see an offer for the 2015s. Today, here are the 2018s and you can compare to the 2017 & 2016 prices which are in the brackets. The new owners are never going to get their €300 million back with only a 50 francs per bottle price increase, are they(?)! 🙂

Clos de Tart Grand Cru 2018 75cl 498.00, (498.00, 448.00)* Swiss francs
Clos de Tart Grand Cru 2018 150cl 1,050.00 (1,026.00, 926.00)
Clos de Tart Grand Cru 2018 300cl 2,300 (2,2042, 2,042.00)
La Forge de Tart 1er Cru 2018 75cl 189.00 (169.00, 188.00)

Additionally, there are some ‘library releases’:
Clos de Tart Grand Cru (Library Release) 1996 75cl 498.00
Clos de Tart Grand Cru (Library Release) 1996 150cl 1’198.00
Clos de Tart Grand Cru (Library Release) 2002 75cl 558.00
Clos de Tart Grand Cru (Library Release) 2005 150cl 1,450.00
Clos de Tart Grand Cru (Library Release) 2006 75cl 448.00
Clos de Tart Grand Cru (Library Release) 2006 150cl 926.00
Clos de Tart Grand Cru (Library Release) 2009 75cl 598.00
La Forge de Tart 1er Cru 2007 75cl 148.00
La Forge de Tart 1er Cru 2011 75cl 135.00
La Forge de Tart 1er Cru 2014 75cl 169.00

* Including delivery, but not including Swiss purchase tax of 7.7%

I see this reported in the French press today:

The Pasteur Institute, owner of the Château des Ravatys, has decided to sell the estate to help fund their research. Apparently, this follows long reflection and there is no link between this decision and the backdrop of covid-19 infections.

Set at the foot of the Mont Brouilly, the Pasteur Institute has owned this property in Saint-Lager since 1937, the sale price is estimated at 6.9 million euros. In the context of the Côte d’Or that’s practically nothing for holdings that extend to:

1. 56 hectares, including 28 ha planted with vines (20 ha in the Côte-de-Brouilly appellation and 8 ha in Brouilly – 2019 figures).
2. 5,500 m² of buildings
3. 150,000 bottles of annual production, excluding sharecropping

Ravatys also have a small plot of Chassagne-Montrachet white (pictured) it’s not clear if that is included in the transaction – their version is rather oaky.

Although the quality was not quite to the same level in 2018, the reds from here in 2017 could be favourably compared to those of a near neighbour – Château Thivin – save for Laurent Martray, there is no higher benchmark in the area.

If there’s one part of the wine industry that seems very active during lockdown – at-least, judging by my inbox – then it’s wine auctions.

Sotheby’s are hammering it with practically simultaneous auctions in London, New York and Hong Kong; it’s the former with all those rather rare Domaine des Chézeaux bottles and magnums that I’ll be following the most – The Cointreau Collection – not least because I have quite a bit of those wines myself!

But their other auctions remain far from academic despite wall-to-wall DRC and Roumier in New York, and with so many magnums too, though I particularly loved the juxtaposition of lots 325 and 326 – bottles of Faiveley’s Musigny, next to Drouhin’s Côte de Nuits Villages 🙂

As for Sotheby’s Hong Kong ‘Summit‘ sale, many of the DRC, Rousseau and Dujac bottles are so large, and relatively young, that I seriously doubt that they were ever bought for drinking – and that’s sad.

Of course, it’s not just Sotheby’s and their clients; witness Australian author and critic James Halliday selling off (some/all?) of his collection of DRC. At 80-years-old and a couple of years senior to Aubert de Villaine of the that Vosne-Romanée domaine, this seems nothing more than sense. I just hope that a) I’m still around and b) can still, unaided, operate a corkscrew at the same age!

Enjoy your auction lots!

Just to give you that fuzzy and warm feeling that you could buy these – if you really wanted!

As usual, the prices are delivered in Switzerland – but here, include purchase tax. Note that these were special introductory prices – the price goes up at the end of the offer 🙂
In the brackets – 2017, then 2016 prices:

VINS ROUGES
Gevrey-Chambertin Justice des Seuvrées 2018 75cl 117.00 (120.60, 94.50) (*Swiss Francs)
Nuits St-Georges 1er ‘Les Murgers des Cras’ 2018 75cl 117.00 (120.60, 100.80)
Chambolle-Musigny Orveaux des Bussières 2018 75cl 135.00 (138.60, —)
Vosne-Romanée Ormes des Chalendins 2018 75cl 135.00 (138.60, —)
Vosne-Romanée Les Champs Perdrix Vieilles Vignes 2018 75cl 170.00 (156.60, 128.70)
Morey Saint-Denis 1er Cru La Riotte Vieilles Vignes 2018 75 cl 171,00 (174.60, 163.80)
Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts Vieilles Vignes 2018 75cl 240.00 (249.00, 193.50)
Nuits Saint-Georges 1er Cru La Richemone “Ultra” Vieilles Vignes 2018 75cl 337.50 (389.00, 385.00)
Chambolle-Musigny Combe d’Orveau 1er Cru “Ultra” Vieilles-Vignes 2018 75cl 375.00 (389.00, —)
Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes 2018 75cl 425.00 (444.00, 420.00)
Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes 2018 75cl 382.50, (444.00, 420.00)
Mazoyères-Chambertin Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes 2018 75cl 382.50 (444.00, 420.00)
Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes 2018 75cl ‘on application!’ (1,059.00, 840.00)
Chambertin Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes 2018 75cl ‘on application’ (1,059.00, 840.00)

‘On Application‘ – as we are presumably (already) insufficiently shell-shocked, despite some modest price decreases!!!

*As noted, these are delivered prices, but this email offer is discounted – whatever is sold from their normal catalogue is at a higher price!