The Market

offer of the day – Faiveley 2016…

By billn on November 16, 2017 #the market

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

DOMAINE FAIVELEY 2016 – En Primeur

PREMIERS CRUS
Pommard Rugiens 2016 75cl 86.00 (—)
Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cazetiers 2016 75cl 84.00 (78.00, 72.50, 69.80) Swiss Francs*
Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cazetiers 2016 150cl 173.00 (161.00, —, —)
Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Saint-Georges 2016 75cl 115.00 (98.00, 98.00, 98.00)
Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Saint-Georges 2016 15ocl 235.00 (—)
Chambolle-Musigny Les Fuées 2016 75cl 135.00 (128.00, 119.00, 119.00)
Chambolle-Musigny la Combe d’Orveau 2016 75cl 132.00 (124.00, 119.00, 119.00)
Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses 2016 75cl 249.00 (229.00, 228.00, 228.00)

GRAND CRUS
Corton Clos des Cortons 2016 75cl 169.00 (149.00, 139.00, 139)
Corton Clos des Cortons 2016 150cl 343.00 (303.00, 283.00, 283)
Corton Clos des Cortons 2016 300cl 736.00 (656.00, —, —)
Echezeaux 2016 75cl 165.00 (149.00, —, —)
Mazis-Chambertin 2016 75cl 198.00 (179.00, 167.00, 169)
Mazis-Chambertin 2016 150cl 401.00 (363.00, —, —)
Mazis-Chambertin 2016 300cl 852.00 (776.00, —, —)
Grands Echezeaux 2016 75cl 208.00 (198.00, 198.00, —)
Charmes-Chambertin 2016 75cl 165.00 (—)
Charmes-Chambertin 2016 75cl 189.00 (—)
Clos de Vougeot 2016 75cl 159.00 (—)
Chambertin Clos de Bèze 2016 75cl 299.00 (278.00, 249.00, 235)
Chambertin Clos de Bèze 2016 150cl 603.00 (561.00, 503.00, 475)
Chambertin Clos de Bèze 2016 300cl 1,256.00 (1,172.00, —, —)
Chambertin Clos de Bèze Les Ouvrées Rodin 2016 75cl 745.00 (659.00, 598.00, 598)

Bâtard-Montrachet 2016 75cl 298.00 (—)
Bienvenues Bâtard-Montrachet 2016 75cl 269.00 (—)
Corton Charlemagne 2016 75cl 189.00 (169.00, 169.00, 159)

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

There was some price restraint in 2015, so I might have anticipated less-so given the frost of 2016, but it seems that, rather than based on specific yields, there might be some ‘lifestyle’ pricing’ for the grand crus, certainly the larger formats…
[EDIT]: One month later, this merchant sent out the list again – either they have unlimited availability, or there isn’t too much custom at these prices!

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offer of the day – Leflaive 2016…

By billn on November 03, 2017 #the market

DOMAINE LEFLAIVE 2016 – Puligny-Montrachet (En Primeur)
Just for reflection, you will see the same offer prices of their (2015s, 2013s, 2012s) in the brackets for an idea of ‘progression’.

Pouilly-Fuissé 75cl Not offered (37.00 Swiss francs in 2015)
Bourgogne 75cl 42.00 Swiss Francs (38.00, 35.00, 35.00)
Puligny-Montrachet 75cl 82.00 (69.00, 65.00, 65.00)

PREMIERS CRUS
Puligny-Montrachet Les Clavoillons 75cl 118.00 (89.00, 88.00, 85.00)
Meursault Sous Le Dos d’Âne 75cl 118.00 (99.00, 99.00, 96.00)
Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières 75cl 185.00 (145.00, 148.00, 139.00)
Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes 75cl 185.00 (155.00, 159.00, 149.00)
Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles 75cl 245.00 (195.00, 175.00, 175.00)

GRANDS CRUS
Bienvenues Bâtard-Montrachet 75cl 459.00 (325.00, 319.00. 289.00)
Bâtard-Montrachet 75cl 498.00 (348.00, 355.00, 310.00)
Chevalier-Montrachet 75cl 685.00 (445.00, 450.00, 395.00)

I realise that the production of grand crus was -80% at this domaine in 2016, but wow! Best of luck to them…

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offer of the day – clos de tart

By billn on October 28, 2017 #the market

And as if by magic, in my inbox this morning:

La Forge de Tart 1er Cru 2007 75cl 148.00* Swiss francs
La Forge de Tart 1er Cru 2008 75cl 119.00
La Forge de Tart 1er Cru 2011 75cl 135.00
La Forge de Tart 1er Cru 2014 75cl 169.00

Clos de Tart Grand Cru 2006 75cl 299.50
Clos de Tart Grand Cru 2011 75cl 279.00
Clos de Tart Grand Cru 2013 75cl 324.00
Clos de Tart Grand Cru 2013 150cl 678.00
Clos de Tart Grand Cru 2014 75cl 324.00
Clos de Tart Grand Cru 2014 150cl 678.00
*Prices are ‘delivered’ but subject to 8% Swiss purchase tax.

One has to assume that the distribution of these wines will be subject to change in the future…

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beyond avarice…

By billn on October 28, 2017 #the market

I suppose that I’m mandated to make a comment on the aftermath of this – ie the sale of the Clos de Tart by the Mommessin family shareholders for an undisclosed sum – but let’s say €250 million – some important personas in Burgundy say ‘no, over 300!‘

I was travelling (mainly taking pictures of cows!) in Switzerland when this was ‘confirmed’ yesterday morning, but I’ve been tweeting about this subject (and retweeting) since the sale of the Clos de Tart was first mooted, which was about 3 weeks ago.

The Clos de Tart has a magnificent location and is the perfect ‘compact item’ despite it’s 7.5 hectares – by that I mean that all the buildings of the domaine also sit within the walls of the Clos – compared, for example, to its neighbour the Clos des Lambrays, where the wine-making and offices are separated from the vines, albeit by only a few hundred metres. There are other grand cru monopoles, but none that can compare in this respect. The Clos de Tart is emblematic, it is the perfect representation of all the history and mythology of Burgundy, gift-wrapped into a 7.5 hectare parcel.

Under the tenure of Sylvain Pitiot, I felt that in terms of attention to detail, the Clos de Tart was the most fanatical domaine in the whole of Burgundy – even more-so than Leroy and DRC – imagine walking around the wall of the clos and seeing that the gap between the vines and the wall was a perfect ‘Japanese garden’ of raked small stones. Every detail of the operation of the domaine, right down to paint on the doors was perfect…

Of-course the wine needs to be good too!

Under Pitiot, given enough time to mature, the wine was magnificent – but I was never a fan of the oak treatment, which usually deprived drinkers of extracting the joy of youth, something that one should associate with the wine’s high price-tag. I simply loved the 1985, but the 2001 and a magnum of 2005, remain my reference points – reference points that can easily trade glasses with the grand crus of Vosne or the Clos de Vougeot. I was frankly pinning my hopes on Jacques Devauges to do something about the oak – though (so far) I have no view on whether that’s already the case, or not.

So, from certain viewpoints, the clos is indeed an unrivalled jewel and worth a King’s ransom. If it was the case that this would not inject further heat into the market for vineyard land – something of a storm that the new owner can easily ride out, but less-so the small family domaines of Burgundy – then I would simply stand and applaud François Pinault for winning this game and move on. I fear, however, that this is unlikely to be the case. The extra money that Pinault can bring will not improve the attention to detail at this domaine – though there is always something that can be improved – but this is clearly not a ‘project’ of restoration, it is the purchase of a chattel.

Drinkers, buyers and even owners of smaller domaines are simply bystanders in games such as this, and I cannot blame the various shareholders of the Mommessin family for taking this pay-day – though I know that some didn’t want to sell.

The Clos de Tart, courtesy the domaine:

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offer of the day – louis jadot 2016

By billn on October 05, 2017 #the market

Out yesterday – I was slow!

The prices are what they are, some are pretty much unchanged, others not. I’d like to think that yields are responsible, rather than the ‘marketability’ of particular cuvées. The Montrachet remains relatively inexpensive – for Montrachet! For what it’s worth, the 1993 Clos des Ursules was delicious today – assuming you have 25 years to wait…

DOMAINE LOUIS JADOT 2016 – Beaune

Beaune Clos des Ursules Monopole 1er Cru 2016 75cl 59.00* (55.00) (Swiss Francs)
Pommard 1er Cru Rugiens 2016 75cl 69.50
Corton Grèves Grand Cru 2016 75cl 79.50 (79.00)
Corton Pougets Grand Cru 2016 75cl 79.50 (79.00)
Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru 2016 75cl 85.00
Clos Vougeot Grand Cru 2016 75cl 138.00 (128.00)
Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques 1er Cru 2016 75cl 145.00 (138.00)
Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru 2016 75cl 188.00 (169.00)
Clos Saint Denis Grand Cru 2015 75cl 269.00 (259.00)

Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes 1er Cru 2016 75cl 89.00 (88.00)
Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2016 75cl 139.50 (119.00)
Montrachet Grand Cru 2016 75cl 499.00 (428.00)

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

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how about a nice pouilly-fuissé 1er cru?

By billn on September 29, 2017 #the market

After more than 10 years in the preparation, the dossier with all the work to justify certain parcels of Pouilly-Fuissé becoming 1er Crus is completed. This week all the vigneron(ne)s of Pouilly voted that they take the next step. The ‘next step’ is actually a number of public consultations et-cetera where anyone can have a say, but it seems that they are on ‘a good way’ and could have the final ‘yes’ in less than two years, at which time they can back-date vintages from 2017 as 1ers.

About 22% of the appellation is slated to be upgraded to 1er Cru, and for these parcels the rules will change slightly; the allowed yields will decrease from 60 to 56 hectolitres per hectare, and the minimum alcohol requirement will raise from 11 to 11.5%. For good producers the rules will make no difference whatsoever – the average yields being closer to 40 hl/ha and usually over 12° at harvest time.

Good luck to them…

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offer of the day – henri boillot 2016s…

By billn on September 27, 2017 #the market

henri-boillot-charlemagne

The first offer on 2016s that I’ve seen – the comparison to the 2015 offer from the same merchant is in the brackets.

Whilst there was frost in 2016, and much was lost, it was highly variable with some white wine vineyards offering full yields. Here the increases are seemingly across the board – Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits – there is nothing here to suggest the variability of the frost and therefore the yields. The Bonnes-Mares is a case in point – Chambolle lost 80%, the next village, Morey had high yields…

At first sight, very disappointing…

VILLAGES BLANCS 2016
BOURGOGNE Chardonnay 75cl Not offered (23.00) Swiss francs*
MEURSAULT 75cl 49.00 (45.00)
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET 75cl 52.00 (49.00)

PREMIERS CRUS BLANCS 2016
MEURSAULT Les Charmes 75cl 89.00 (78.00)
MEURSAULT Les Genevrières 75cl 108.00 (99.00)
MEURSAULT Les Perrières 75cl 108.00 (99.00)
Puligny Les Perrières 75 cl 99.00 (89.50)
Puligny Les Combettes 75 cl 108.00 (99.00)
Puligny Les Folatières 75 cl Not offered (99.00)
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Clos de La Mouchère 75cl 99.00 (89.50)
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Pucelles 75cl 108.00 (99.00)

GRANDS CRUS BLANCS 2016
CORTON CHARLEMAGNE 75cl 149.00 (145.00)
BÂTARD MONTRACHET 75cl 455.00 (419.00)

VILLAGE & PREMIERS CRUS ROUGES 2016
VOLNAY 75cl not offered (46.00)
Volnay Les Chevrets 75 cl 89.00 (78.00)
VOLNAY Les Caillerets 75cl 99.00 (89.50)
POMMARD Les Rugiens 75cl 99.00 (89.50)

GRANDS CRUS ROUGES 2016
CLOS DE VOUGEOT 75cl 149.50 (139.00)
BONNES-MARES 75cl 269.00 (248.00)
CHAMBERTIN 75cl 269.00

*Prices are ‘delivered’ but will incur another 8% Swiss purchase tax

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tastevinage – version 100

By billn on September 20, 2017 #events#the market


The images for this post were stolen from the website of www.tastevinage.fr.

Next week I’ll be attending the 100th edition of Tastevinage tasting in the Château du Clos de Vougeot – as a little background, here’s what I previously learned and wrote about the Tastevinage tastings.

The twice-yearly tastings have been organized since 1950, but for the 100th edition, the organisers are trying add a little extra interest for the millennial generation.

The underlying question “Would you recommend this burgundy to a friend?” remains unchanged, but there is a more ‘modern’ approach to the labeling, and instead of the usual Coups de Coeurs – i.e. the wines liked unanimously by the table of tasters – will henceforth become, more internationally, the Majors – “And their should be not much more than 25 per session” notes Arnaud Orsel of the organising committee.

So, on the face of it, just a little tinkering – as the concept seems to work well in practice. The most interesting ‘change’ will be novel new tasting glasses – apparently specially designed for the tasting of burgundy wines – specially to cover both the reds, whites and crémants that are part of this tasting. You will even be able to buy the glasses at the shop in the Château du Clos de Vougeot – I’ll report back on what I think of them.

And, perhaps, in a nod to the general market aspirations of Burgundy, Jeannie Cho Lee will be the president of the day for this tasting number 100.

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a new label – bourgogne côte d’or – and why it matters…

By billn on August 22, 2017 #the market#warning - opinion!

There are many ‘Bourgogne’ labels, but the new one – Bourgogne Côte d’Or – is much more specific in two respects; 1) Geography and 2) what’s in the bottle – it can only be pinot noir or chardonnay.

Harpers were the first (that I’m aware of) to break the news that the long discussed label of Bourgogne Côte d’Or is finally approved. You can read most of the details of what will be allowed, in that link.

But what does that mean for you and me? Well, it should be a very good thing; it won’t make a bit of difference to the Bourgogne Pinot Noirs that you have been buying, nor will it change things much at well-known domaines – though they may, if they feel the need, take this new label – see the comment from Philippe Charlopin in the linked article.

Now it is instinctive to think that a Bourgogne Rouge comes from ‘Burgundy’ and that it is made from pinot noir. You would be forgiven for also assuming that ‘Burgundy’ means that the grapes come from the Côte d’Or – and for growers in the Côte d’Or this is overwhelmingly so – but for the bulk of Bourgognes this is overwhelmingly not so – this is where it will make a big difference – it will bring extra clarity.

What the hell am I talking about?

The Maisons, typically of the Côte d’Or have, for a long time, been playing a tough game with their neighbours in Beaujolais, trying to restrict their southern cousins’ use of the Bourgogne label. Those cousins would, after all, be competition. But at the same time, behind the scenes, those same maisons have been some of the largest buyers of Beaujolais wine – gamay wine – for their vast quantities of Bourgogne Rouge. It’s no secret but it’s also, for obvious reasons, not something that they publicise, i.e. that Bourgogne Rouge can contain up to 15% gamay from Beaujolais – so it shouldn’t ever be a surprise when your cheap Bourgogne smells like Beaujolais! Actually, this gamay can come from anywhere in Yonne/Côte d’Or/Chalonnais/Mâconnais/Beaujolais – some 50,000 hectares of vines are eligible – but Beaujolais is usually the king of cheap. By comparison, the ~1,000 hectares that are ‘allowed’ for this new Bourgogne Côte d’Or label sound much less generous!

It’s exactly the same for the whites, of-course; Bourgogne Blanc often contains wine from the Chalonnaise or the Mâconnais – without restriction.

So what you might have instinctively expected to find in your Bourgogne Rouge or Bouregogne Blanc, you will actually find in the Bourgogne Côte d’Or – though it’s fair to say that this ‘progress’ for the consumer has taken a very long time to come!

The take-home message is to keep buying the great stuff that you always have, but don’t be surprised if the label changes in the next vintages. But if you want an extra saftey-belt for your Bourgogne buying habit, then the Bourgogne Côte d’Or label will be the one for you – but it will of-course be more expensive than wines ‘cut’ with grapes from cheaper ‘sources…’

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