Important, grand cru, changes are underway today in Morey St.Denis.

It has been known, for a little while, that Jacques Devauges will be leaving Clos de Tart – after (in my opinion) too short a tenure. I believe that Jacques liberated the wine of Clos de Tart – so oft a wine that was constrained by its oak. I wholeheartedly believe that it’s one of Burgundy’s great wines but that the oak really meant that performance was highly variable – you shouldn’t drink it for at least 20 years has been my experience – the 96-98 are great now but not the 99 and younger – at least not consistently.

Jacques officially leaves Clos de Tart today, February 26th. His successor, Alessandro Noli, is well-known as the previous winemaker at Château Grillet – also part of the Latour, Eugénie, Clos de Tart group. The Clos de Tart was a family operation when Jacques joined – but that changed relatively quickly – Jacques, however, with a nice touch, describes his successor Alessandro as “A great man!”

Jacques’ next move is, officially, unknown, but there is speculation that he already has a new, grand cru, berth in Morey St.Denis – speculation that I first found to be outlandish – but it seems that there could be more than a kernel of truth. I won’t commit the speculation to paper – the parties at both locations are retaining their discretion – but the rumours seem to be true. So watch this space…

Well, according to Sotheby’s:

Here are our highlights from 2018, a record breaking year:

– Annual wine and spirits sales exceed $100 million for first time

– Sotheby’s has achieved over $1.1 billion in wine auction sales worldwide since 1995

– Auction sales surged over 50%

– #1 worldwide in live Auction sales, and #1 overall in Asia

– World’s most expensive bottle of wine sold at $558,000

– Highest price for any spirit in the Americas at $843,200

– Burgundy represented 42% of sales

– Asian buyers represented 63% of sales

– #1 Wine producer is Domaine de la Romanée-Conti at $24 million / 21% of sales

– Retail has highest level of sales ever, in both Asia and New York

– Highest value single retail transaction at US$1.5 Million

It’s probably good that I’m enjoying some Beaujolais this week, if DRC is now 24 million a bottle (give it time!)….

Hot from my inbox this morning from my usual Swiss importer source. The prices of the 2016s and 2015s are in brackets for you to compare. My full report on the 2017s will be online in 10 days, but for any subscriber desperate for info on these, feel free to send me a note:

DOMAINE WILLIAM FEVRE CHABLIS 2017
CHABLIS Village 75cl 22.00 (22.00, 19.00) Swiss Francs*
PREMIERS CRUS
CHABLIS Montée de Tonnerre 75cl 48.00 (45.00, 42.00)
CHABLIS Vaulorent 75cl 54.00 (—)
GRANDS CRUS
CHABLIS Preuses 75cl 78.00 (75.00, 65.00)
CHABLIS Bougros Côtes de Bouquerots 75cl 79.50 (79.00, 65.00)
CHABLIS Les Clos 75cl 89.00 (89.00, 75.00)

No surprise that there has been no relaxation of most prices – only the volumes of villages Chablis recovered, some, in 2017. For the others the frost was often worse than in 2016…
*The prices are ‘delivered’ but will attract another 8% Swiss purchase tax.

Whilst I may have missed the 14s, here you can see the ‘progression’ of same merchant’s prices (in Switzerland) for the 12s, 13s, 15s, 16s and now the 2017s. The format here for the prices is simple: 2017 (2016, 2015, 2013, 2012) and — if not previously offered…

DOMAINE FAIVELEY 2017 – En Primeur

PREMIERS CRUS
Pommard Rugiens 2017 75cl 75.00 (86.00, —)
Gevrey-Chambertin Clos des Issarts 2017 75cl 69.00 (—)
Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cazetiers 2017 75cl 79.00 (84.00, 78.00, 72.50, 69.80) Swiss Francs*
Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cazetiers 2017 150cl 163.00 (173.00, 161.00, —, —)
Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Saint-Georges 2017 75cl 99.00 (115.00, 98.00, 98.00, 98.00)
Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Saint-Georges 2017 150cl — (235.00, —)
Chambolle-Musigny Les Fuées 2017 75cl 125.00 (135.00, 128.00, 119.00, 119.00)
Chambolle-Musigny la Combe d’Orveau 2017 75cl 119.00 (132.00, 124.00, 119.00, 119.00)
Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses 2017 75cl 199.00 (249.00, 229.00, 228.00, 228.00)

GRAND CRUS
Corton Clos des Cortons 2017 75cl 149.00 (169.00, 149.00, 139.00, 139)
Corton Clos des Cortons 2017 150cl 303.00 (343.00, 303.00, 283.00, 283)
Corton Clos des Cortons 2017 300cl 656.00 (736.00, 656.00, —, —)
Echezeaux 2017 75cl — (165.00, 149.00, —, —)
Mazis-Chambertin 2017 75cl 178.00 (198.00, 179.00, 167.00, 169)
Mazis-Chambertin 2017 150cl 361.00 (401.00, 363.00, —, —)
Mazis-Chambertin 2017 300cl 776.00 (852.00, 776.00, —, —)
Grands Echezeaux 2017 75cl 188.00 (208.00, 198.00, 198.00, —)
Charmes-Chambertin 2017 75cl — (165.00, —)
Latricières-Chambertin 2017 75cl 165.00 (189.00, —)
Clos de Vougeot 2017 75cl — (159.00, —)
Chambertin Clos de Bèze 2017 75cl 249.00 (299.00, 278.00, 249.00, 235)
Chambertin Clos de Bèze 2017 150cl 503.00 (603.00, 561.00, 503.00, 475)
Chambertin Clos de Bèze 2017 300cl 1,056.00 (1,256.00, 1,172.00, —, —)
Chambertin Clos de Bèze Les Ouvrées Rodin 2017 75cl 698.00 (745.00, 659.00, 598.00, 598)

Bâtard-Montrachet 2017 75cl — (298.00, —)
Bienvenues Bâtard-Montrachet 2017 75cl — (269.00, —)
Corton Charlemagne 2017 75cl 189.00 (189.00, 169.00, 169.00, 159)

*There is 8% Tax to add in Switzerland, but then these are delivered prices

The first really significant price decreases that I have seen for 2017 – that said, the prices have only dropped to be in-line with 2015, though the quality is more that of 2014 – still, 2012-2015 were relatively stable prices chez Faiveley for this merchant. Only the Charlemagne seems to ‘justify’ the higher prices of yore…

Received from the domaine this morning:

“Following the early death of her cousin, Mr Henry-Frédéric Roch, who had been the Domaine’s co-director representing the Leroy Family since 1992 besides Aubert de Villaine, Mrs Perrine Fenal was appointed by her family and nominated by the Domaine shareholders’ meeting of January 23rd 2019 to take this position.
Perrine has always felt deeply attached to the Domaine on both a professional and personal level. When she was a child, she often accompanied her grand-father, Henri Leroy, and then her mother, Lalou Bize-Leroy.
Between 1992 and 2004 she was the Domaine’s exclusive importer and distributor in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. In 2004 she was appointed to replace her aunt, Mrs Pauline Roch, at the supervisory board. Mrs Isabelle Roch, Pauline Roch’s daughter and Henry-Frédéric Roch’s sister, will replace her in this position.”

DOMAINE LOUIS JADOT 2017

As always, from my locval, Swiss merchant. First the 2016 and then 2015 offer prices in the brackets to compare, and — means not offered)

Beaune Clos des Ursules Monopole 1er Cru 2017 75cl 59.00* (59.00, 55.00) (Swiss Francs)
Beaune Clos des Ursules Monopole 1er Cru 2017 150cl 123.00
Pommard 1er Cru Rugiens 2017 75cl 69.50 (69.50, —)
Corton Grèves Grand Cru 2017 75cl 79.50 (79.50, 79.00)
Corton Grèves Grand Cru 2017 150cl 164.00
Corton Pougets Grand Cru 2017 75cl 79.50 (79.50, 79.00)
Corton Pougets Grand Cru 2017 150cl 164.00
Chambolle-Musigny Fuées 1er Cru 2017 75cl 85.00 (—)
Chambolle-Musigny Baudes 1er Cru 2017 75cl 85.00 (—)
Clos Vougeot Grand Cru 2017 75cl 139.00 (138.00, 128.00)
Clos Vougeot Grand Cru 2017 150cl 283.00
Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques 1er Cru 2017 75cl 149.00 (145.00, 138.00)
Echézeaux Grand Cru 2017 75cl 159.00 (—)
Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru 2017 75cl — (188.00, 169.00)
Clos Saint Denis Grand Cru 2017 75cl — (269.00, 259.00)
Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru 2017 75cl 339.00 (—)
Musigny Grand Cru 2017 75cl 795.00 (—)

Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes 1er Cru 2017 75cl 89.00 (89.00, 88.00)
Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2017 75cl 148.00 (139.50, 119.00)
Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2017 75cl 285.00 (—)
Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru 2017 75cl 348.00 (—)
Montrachet Grand Cru 2017 75cl — (499.00, 428.00)

*Prices delivered, but without the 8% Swiss purchase tax…

Some cuvéees are ‘hidden’ by not being available in both vintages, but generally price holding rather than softening – though there are certainly many great wines here in this vintage.

DOMAINE DROUHIN-LAROZE 2017 – En Primeur
Prices of the 2016s, from this time last year, in brackets. As each year from the same Swiss source.

Gevrey-Chambertin En Champs 2017 75cl 49.50* (49.50) Swiss Francs
Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaut-St-Jacques 1er Cru 2017 75cl 69.00 (65.00)

GRAND CRUS
Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru 2017 75 cl 125.00 (119.00)
Clos Vougeot Grand Cru 2017 75cl — (125.00)
Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru 2017 75cl 149.00 (145.00)
Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru 2017 75cl 165.00 (158.00)

*There is 8% Tax to add in Switzerland, but then these are delivered prices

One could say that these are relatively modest price increases versus those that we have become accustomed to, yet in 2017 the yields are not low, and the quality is good though far from great. Except that this domaine’s wines are relatively cheap vs the market averages, I see no reason for the increases from a volume or quality perspective.

If you are short of a few bottles, Sotheby’s is now touting their up-coming Tran-scend-ent Hong-Kong sale, 29-31 March 2019.

You have been warned…

…over 250 lots of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, over 80 lots of Maison and Domaine Leroy, including 20 cases of Grands Echézeaux 1959 Maison Leroy, and 6 cases of Echézeaux 1966 Maison Leroy. Then there’s ‘over 600 lots of Domaine Coche-Dury forms the most complete ‘library’ of Coche-Dury to be seen at auction, the number of bottles potentially exceeding stocks held by the winery…‘

Oh, and there’s Champagne, Rhône and Bordeaux too!

/thedrinksbusiness.com/2018/12/the-rise-of-other-burgundy/

There’s an obvious problem with this, and you can see that right from the bold title of the table introducing you to such delights – the table is by value, not by volume. Of-course a few of the wines in the table have decent volume too – Ponsot’s Clos de la Roche is not bad, 3.3 hectares and at a rough 30 hl/ha that’s about 13,000 bottles – a big cuvée for Burgundy. The Clos des Lambrays and Clos de Tart are even bigger cuvées – no surprise for grand cru (sometimes quasi) monopolies – even the Rousseau Chambertin is not so bad – but that’s where the volume stops, there are wines in this list that often produce 1-2 barrels – yes – 1-2 barrels. A table based on such things has no real perspective.

I do not deny the rise of worth of Burgundy, that would be a ridiculous standpoint, but today the chance of buying full 12-bottle cases, indeed 6-bottle cases of important wines shrinks by the year – it is already a few years since importers introduced the 3-bottle case, and there’s a queue for those too! I know that the superstars bring the headlines – DRC, Leroy – but at least DRC has some volume, Leroy is the typical poster-child of this ‘investment perspective’ – “The preponderance of Leroy in this adjusted top 10 and its strong price performance overall is the reason why it was ranked as the strongest brand in this year’s ‘Power 100’ list” – bombastic – no? They may have 0.5 hectares of the Chambertin that is noted, but they rarely produce more than a couple of barrels, indeed they produce only 1-2 barrels of many things, but no more.

A real indicator would be all the grand crus sold at major auctions, and their price tracked – of-course it would still be skewed by a big DRC sale, or single bottle of 1945 Romanée-Conti sold for $0.5 million. But then there is at least a volume of transactions behind a number that you can track each year. Of-course I’m glossing over the fact that less than 4% of the Côte d’Or’s production is grand cru, closer to 1% if you look at burgundy wine as a whole. But when a single 6 pack of Leroy Chambertin (and there are not many of those) is traded twice in a year, but makes 20% less on the second occasion – it depends on who is in the room, bidding – does that mean that the market has tanked?